


Bound To Bite

by aubreyblitch



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Asexual Jellybean Jones, Bisexual Archie Andrews, Domestic Violence, Explicit Language, F/M, Graphic Description, Major Character Injury, Major character death - Freeform, Self-Harm, Slow Burn, multiple character deaths
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2019-10-19 18:07:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17606306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aubreyblitch/pseuds/aubreyblitch
Summary: When the first person was infected, it didn’t take long for the world to fall apart. Cities emptied, millions dead, only dust and those who had managed to find shelter. Gangs emerged, and civilization began to rebuild. It was peaceful for years. The four groups that survived thrived. The Serpents, The Ghoulies, The Northsiders, and Southsiders. All it took for things to get ugly was Northsider Betty Cooper getting too close to The Serpents. And Serpents you get too close to? They tend to bite.





	1. Before The Storm

Betty Cooper shivered, tucking her hair behind her ears as sharp winds nipped at her face, making her cheeks sting. Autumn always ended bitterly, with winds that could knock a grown man off his feet and a temperature that would kill you within minutes.

She shuddered as she took a sip of her chamomile, looking over the dead land before her. The walls that were built around the Northside were tall and firm, making it easy to spot walkers and people , even if you weren’t paying attention.

Betty had worked on the walls since she was fifteen, and here she was, three years later, still perched on the same chair, freezing her ass off like she did every year. The wood had worn down, making it squeaky and uncomfortable, and the land had always stayed the same. Finally manage to get a tiny bit lush and the end of summer, and die in the fall. Over fifty times were the woods that sat in front of her combed for food, but nothing ever was found. Even the Blossoms, who knew everything about edible plants and herbs, couldn’t find anything. Said one too many dead bodies had probably killed what was left.

In the five years Betty had lived with the Northside, she had never stepped foot outside of it. Both her dad and her sister had been turned before they found the group, and even then, it was a surprise Sierra let them in. Betty’s mom was always pissed, always yelling at someone for doing something wrong. Chic was always lurking, always watching people. Betty was a mute teenager at the time who was suffering through the loss of two of her family members. She didn’t speak the first year she spent there, and barely talked to anybody other than Kevin and Archie.

“Shift’s over kid.”

Betty’s gaze snapped over to her right, where Fred Andrews looked down at her, his orbs patient and soft, a look that reminded Betty of her dad.

“Didn’t realize it was so late,” she spoke quietly, pushing herself up and off the chair.

Fred chuckled. “Well, it’s almost dark out, so yeah, hard to notice.”

“Sorry,” she said, handing him the jug filled with hot tea. “Want some? I didn’t drink a lot and it’ll keep you warm.”

Fred nodded, taking it from her, his hands covered in thick, brown wool gloves.

Fred had been in the Northside long before the Coopers showed up. He and Archie had barely made it out of Chicago alive, and Fred had lost his ex-wife on the way. Archie once told her that she had never seen a man who had lost so much still be the best person in the room.

“Anyways,” Betty murmured. “See you tomorrow.”

Fred gave her a warm smile as she turned away, already climbing down the ladder. With her scrawny frame, it was a miracle she could manage to get up it most days.

As her boots hit the ground, Betty let out a large breath, looking around. Most everybody had already gone inside their homes and locked their doors, getting ready for the night. Lights were on in most houses, but blinds were shut tightly.

Quietly, Betty ambled down the street, the wind biting at her face. It was hard to see five feet ahead of her, and the black pavement didn’t help.

Betty shivered again, and quickly decided she wasn’t interested in walking all the way home. Archie was only a minute away, and they had a spare room that had basically become hers if she needed somewhere to stay when she and her mom were having problems.

By the time she had gotten to the Andrew’s house, her fingers had gone numb, and her face was most likely flushed with color. It hurt to curl her fist up and knock on the door.

Within seconds, the door swung open, and the redhead stood in front of her, his hair messy and his clothes wrinkled.

“Betty,” he grinned. “Mom issues?”

Betty shrugged. “Too cold to walk all the way home.”

Archie nodded, stepping to the side as Betty walked in, the room warm and cozy. Archie shut the door, and brushed past her, heading towards the kitchen.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Archie shouted from the other room. “But Kevin’s here.”

Betty shook her head. “Not at all.”

Kevin and Archie had been dating for longer than she had been a Northsider. For awhile, it had been awkward hanging out with them, and she was almost always a third wheel, but Archie had made sure to include her in activities and conversations. Kevin was a little harder to warm up to, but at some point they had gotten close. They had been a trio ever since, and it was weird thinking that for awhile it was just Kevin and Archie.

Betty slid her winter coat off, tossing it on a chair with about five others. She kicked her boots off, nudging them over to the front door, and she grabbed the hat off her head, setting it down on the pile of coats.

Silently, Betty slipped around the corner, when suddenly Kevin appeared, rushing down the stairs with a stack of cards in his hands.

“Hey Archie, how many people does it take to play strip poker, and how many gay guys are in a block radius?”

Archie raised his eyebrows humorously. “Three, Kev. But I’m pretty sure Betty is neither a guy, nor gay.”

Kevin tilted his head, squinting his eyes at Archie. Archie nodded his head to his left, and Kevin glanced over to his right, nearly jumping when he saw the blonde.

Kevin laughed, shoving the cards behind his back. “Betty! I didn’t know you were here!”

Betty giggled. “Sorry for ruining your sex life. I didn’t want to walk all the way home in the cold.”

Archie smirked, taking a sip of his beer. “It’s always the virgins who destroy sex lives. Jealousy truly is the worst emotion.”

Betty shook her head, trying to hide a grin. She extended her hand toward Kevin and opened her palm. “Can I have your cards?”

Kevin pulled the thick deck out from behind his back, placing them in Betty’s palm. Betty fingers squeezed around the deck, and she muttered a quick “thank you” to Kevin.

Hesitating for a second, Betty looked over at Archie and grinned, before hurling the cards at his face.

ღ_ღ_ღ_ღ_ღ_ღ

“Pay up bitch.”

Betty pulled her blanket closer to her as she leaned back against the couch, watching Kevin begrudingly give his boyfriend the fake one hundred dollar bill.

Archie, ever so smug, snatched it quickly, and made a point to be delicate and slow when putting it down with the rest, even smoothing the cheap paper down.

Who’d have thought that the one game that would survive the end of the world would be the one that makes people want to shoot each other? Betty considered it irony at it’s finest.

Archie took a sip of his coffee, which Betty had forced him to drink to stay sober, while Kevin tossed the dice at Betty, huffing with annoyance that wasn’t trying to be masked.

“Jesus, who pissed in your cheerios?” Archie mocked.

“You,” Kevin snapped. “Now fuck off, or I won’t fuck you.”

“Snake eyes,” Betty squeaked as the dice stopped. She jumped her piece two places, and grabbed a card off the pile.

“Go to jail,” Betty said.

“Being straight is indeed a crime,” Archie mumbled, pretending to be deep in thought.

Stretching forward, Betty dropped her piece in jail, before picking up the dice and rolling again.

“Seven,” she announced. “Your turn Archie.”

Without warning, a slight click came from the front door, and all three spun to see Fred Andrews slink inside, shivering.

“Hey kiddos,” he said. “Didn’t know you were coming over, Betty.”

“Too cold to walk all the way home, if it’s okay with you.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Fred smiled, slipping his coat off and shoving his shoes to the corner.

“We were just playing Monopoly,” Archie said.

Fred nodded. “I’m going to bed. Try to be a little quiet.”

“Night,” the three said synonymously. The trio watched as Fred climbed the stairs, only looking back to the worn and torn board when they heard a door close.

Archie snatched the dice up and tossed them down, his eyebrows raised and face leaning down close to the board.

“Three,” he muttered, counting the spaces. He groaned and rubbed his eyes.

Kevin grinned and leaned back. “Who’s cheerios got pissed in now?”

ღ_ღ_ღ_ღ_ღ_ღ

Screaming.

That’s all Betty could hear.

The ear splitting, mind bending screams behind her as her feet slammed against the pavement. 

The sobbing and the begging for her to turn around.

The growls of something that could never be full. Of something that would forever hunt you.

Without warning, Betty slammed into a wall that hadn’t been there before. She let out a grunt, banging against it. Her fists slammed into the hard concrete, and blood started to drip from her hands.

“No, no, no,” she murmured. She smacked her palms against it now, screaming.

Then she realized. It was quiet.

Betty’s head whipped around, expecting to see a herd, but only a limp body in the road awaited.

Wordlessly, it got to its feet and stared at her. Its green eyes glowed, dead of emotion. Slowly, it crept forward.

Betty knew its face. She knew its frame. The eyes. The hair. Even the clothes.

“Dad.”

Betty jolted and sprung upwards as she woke up. She gasped for air, sweat dripping down her back and forehead.

She panted, not realizing she had been clinging to the comforters, making her knuckles white. She released them, falling backwards onto her pillow.

Betty’s heart pounded throughout her whole body, even her head seemed to keep in rythm. She rubbed her eyes, staring at the ceiling.

As to be expected, after Polly died, Betty slept fine at night. No nightmares, no turning and twisting on the hard floors of wherever her family was sleeping. And then her dad died.

According to her mother, she could never manage to shut up at night. She was always thrashing around, whimpering, crying, screaming. Maybe it was because it had finally set in two people from her family were dead. Or maybe it was just because she was close to her dad.

Still, Alice often muttered about having her sleep in a different room so if walkers came, they’d only find her. Betty never knew if her mother was serious.

It wasn’t that had to figure out, but Alice wasn’t really quite sane. When she had first come to Northside, she nearly got the Coopers kicked out. Her temper was awful, she was always screaming about something, and she didn’t mind beating the shit out of her daughter to blow off steam. 

Most people knew about what happened in the Cooper house, and simply turned a blind eye. Pretended not to see the collection of bruises on the young blonde girl. Acted like she didn’t have a black eye. Even then, some people managed to be convinced that Betty was just a clutz.

After minutes of trying to fall back asleep, Betty abandoned ship and threw her legs over the side of the bed. Shuffling across the room, she winced as she nudged the bedroom door open. It creaked, and Betty prayed nobody else was awake.

Silently, Betty slipped across the hall and made her way down the stairs. She paused on almost all of them as she went down, making sure none of them would squeak.

Exhaling as she made it to the bottom, Betty crept across the living room and to the front door. She tugged her coat gently off the pile, throwing it on her shoulders.

Betty reached for the knob, turning it and slinking outside, making sure the door closed behind her.

The cold was already nipping at her face, and her hands were already freezing. The winds blowing in her face nearly forced her to tears as she slumped down on the porch steps.

Biting her lip, she dug her nails into her palms, feeling them sink into the cuts. It stung, and she could feel the blood dripping from her hands as she continued to dig before releasing.

Closing her eyes, she hung her head low. Her locks blew back in her face, and she felt tears run down her cheeks slowly.

Her father had always told her that it was always calm before the storm.

But if this was the calm?

It was bound to be one hell of a storm.


	2. The Den

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead’s POV in the Serpent life. Mostly exposition and my attempts at humor. Enjoy!

It was cold.

Deathly cold.

The kind of cold that made limbs fall off and turned your corpse blue.

But Jughead would do anything to smoke once a day.

He sighed as he exhaled, smoking blowing from his mouth. Wind whipped in his face and blew his hair back, but his most important thoughts were on the small paper in his fingers.

The dead ground he sat on was freezing, and his Serpent jacket barely protected him from the cold.

Fangs had yelled at him three times already to go inside, but Jughead had kindly gave him the finger. It wasn’t that Jughead had a death wish. He just liked smoking. “Jesus Christ Jones, how are you not  _dead_ yet?”

Jughead shook his head. “Can’t you let me rot my lungs in peace, Topaz?”

Toni stood over him, a frown on her face. Her arms were crossed, and the thick furry jacket she wore was ten times more protective than his leather.

“You’ve been out here for half an hour,” Toni stated. “Get your ass inside before you catch pneumonia.”

Jughead took a long drag on his cigarette. “I think the cigeratte’s doing the job for me.”

Toni huffed, before leaning down and snatching it from between his fingers. He let out a “hey” before she dropped it and stomped on it.

“That was my last one,” he mumbled.

“Kiss my ass,” Toni replied. “Now come inside and play poker with us.”

Without waiting for him, she spun on her heel and sprinted up the hill towards the open gate.

Jughead sighed, heaving himself upwards, following her. “Bitch.”

ღ_ღ_ღ_ღ_ღ_ღ

Poker games with the Serpents were what you’d expect.

Drinking, laughing, people getting pissed over losing their money.

And don’t forget the screaming, fighting, and destroyed relationships.

Fangs slammed his cards angrily down on the table as Sweet Pea took the entire money pile laid in the center.

“Son of a bitch!” he shouted.

Toni, who was currently drunk, was laughing her ass off, and clinging to Jughead’s sister Jellybean, to stay on her chair.

Both Jones had folded, and Toni had given up as well. Fangs was a gambler, through and through, and Sweet Pea knew he hated nothing more than losing.

Fangs glared with hatred at Sweet Pea as he shoved the money in his pocket.

“Keep it up Sweet Pea and I’m knocking you on your ass,” he threatened.

Jughead raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair. Despite what most people would think at first, the Serpent Prince wasn’t supposed to get people to obey the rules. Hell, fighting wasn’t banned in the first place.

Jellybean huffed and took a drink before raking in the cards to shuffle in. She barely had any chips left, and it looked even worse next to Sweet Pea who’s slots were full and had piles of them on the table. Toni had gone broke quick, and Jughead and Fangs could’ve been doing better.

“Remind me whose idea it was again to play Texas hold ‘em?” Jellybean grumbled. “We’ve been playing for an hour and a half, and the only person who’s gone broke is Toni, and that’s only because she’s wasted.”

“Don’t get pissy because you’re doing shitty, JB,” Sweet Pea remarked.

“Fuck off,” she snapped, slamming the cards down for him to cut.

“Take it easy JB,” Jughead crooned. “We could all be doing better.”

“Yeah JB,” Sweet Pea smiled, picking up a group of hundreds. “We’re all doing poorly.”

Without warning Jellybean’s elbow rammed into his nose, knocking the giant out of his chair and onto his ass. He let out a groan, and Fangs was slamming his fist against the table as he howled with laughter.

Jughead smirked, standing up to look over at the table and at his friend. “You just got fucked up by a five foot three, skinny, fifteen year old.”

Sweet Pea grumbled, rubbing his nose as he climbed back into his chair. He muttered a swear as he cut the cards and slid them back to Jellybean, a look of amusement written on her face.

“Ha ha,” he mocked. “Why don’t we end on this round? Put JB out of her misery?”

Jughead raised an eyebrow, half expected his sister to tackle him to the floor. She dealt the cards, setting down the stack before looking over and up at him. “Fine. I’ll gladly steal your money from you.”

Jughead let out a long sigh, taking a glance at his cards. King and a queen of spades.

“Fangs? Your turn,” he muttered, waiting.

Fangs shrugged, placing his cards down before knocking on the table to signal him checking. Jughead did the same, as well as Sweet Pea and Jellybean.

Jellybean slipped three cards off the stack, flipping them over and placing them in the middle.

Jack of spades. Eight of hearts. Ace of spades. All Jughead needed was a two of spades.

Jughead did his best to avoid inhaling loudly in excitement. Putting on his best poker face, he glanced around at the rest of the table. Toni had seemed to have passed out on the floor.

Fangs smiled, before dropping a black chip on the pile of four ones. “One hundred.”

Jughead bit his lip, and grabbed three, dropping them on the pile. “I see your one hundred, and I raise you two hundred.”

One black poker chip equaled fifteen dollars. Which meant only a master at bluffing or somebody with a incredible hand would play them. Let alone raise somebody with them.

Sweet Pea smiled, grabbing three of them and tossing them out into the center pile. “I’ll call you.”

Jellybean sighed, sliding the same amount out to the pile. “Call.”

With ease, she flipped over another card. Eight of hearts.

Fangs shook his head, knocking the table. Jughead, Sweet Pea, and Jellybean followed suit.

Jellybean winced as she slowly turned the fifth and final card over. Two of spades.

_Holy shit._

Fangs exhaled, shrugging. “Check.”

Jughead smirked, before grabbing his tray and shoving it towards the middle. “All in. You assholes wanna match me?”

Sweet Pea laughed, pushing his tray and the rest of his chips out. “All in. You lose and you’re broke, Jones.”

Jellybean shrugged, pushing hers out. “What the hell. Matching or folding Fangs?”

Fangs bit his lip, thinking for a second, before nudging his tray to the middle. “All in.”

Sweet Pea laughed, jumping out of his chair, throwing his cards on the table. “Flush!”

Jellybean groaned. “Full house.”

Fangs grinned and flipped his cards. “Three of a kind bitch.”

Sweet Pea gaped, and Fangs quickly scooped his arms around the jackpot.

“Wait,” Jellybean said. “Jughead?”

Jughead smiled at Fangs, standing up and pushing the pile back to himself. “That’s mine, thank you very much.”

Fangs scrambled to grab Jughead’s hand, flipping it over.

“Royal flush,” Jughead noted as he propped his feet up on the table. “Makes sense. I’m royalty and you all are pieces of shit who just got flushed.”

Sweet Pea shook his head, still in awe. “You sly son of a bitch.”

“I believe that’s about four hundred and thirty five dollars. You fuckers can pay me when you have the money.” 

Jellybean rolled her eyes. “Fuck off.”

Jughead swung his feet off the table, standing up and grabbing his bag. “I’m heading home. I’m tired, tipsy, and don’t trust you all not to slit my throat in my sleep.”

“Go ahead without me,” Jellybean said. “I’ll spend the night, make sure Toni’s good.”

“I hope you get eaten on the way home,” Fangs mumbled.

“Me too buddy,” Jughead grinned. “Me too.”

ღ_ღ_ღ_ღ_ღ_ღ

Jughead rubbed his head as he slipped through the front door and into the dark house. There was a quiet woof, before Hot Dog came trotting over, rubbing his leg.

“Hey boy,” Jughead whispered, crouching down to pet the fluffy white dog.

Jughead looked up as he rubbed Hot Dog’s ears to see a dark figure passed out on the couch, bottles of booze right by his hand.

Jughead sighed, turning to lock the door back and kick off his shoes. 

Silently, Jughead slid across the small living room and over to the stairs, which he ran up with quiet ease. He swung around the rail, disappearing into his room, making sure the door was closed and that Hot Dog was inside.

Wincing as the raven haired boy flicked on the lights, he slid out of his leather jacket and stripped out of his other clothes, leaving him in his boxers to turn off the lights and fall over into bed. Hot Dog jumped up and laid his head next to him, Jughead shivering under the covers.

Funny enough, it used to be Jughead who slept on the couch, letting his wasted dad crash on the bed. At some point they both got tired of Jughead dragging him up the stairs and dumping him. It was easier for the drunk to pass out on the couch and not have to worry about what time his son was coming home, so he could lean on him as he went up the stairs without vomiting.

Jughead could barely remember a time when his father wasn’t a drunk. His dad had never been very happy with his life, but he had never turned to addiction. Maybe it was Jughead’s mom that got him through.

Jughead guessed the new world didn’t have a place for people to have good coping mechanisms. He had caught Jellybean with drugs more than once.

Jughead almosted laughed. He was the one raising his fifteen year old sister. He was barely nineteen and he was the one giving her lectures.

With barely open eyee, Jughead rolled over to stroke his dog’s forehead. He had found him on the road, wolfing down a moldy hot dog. Hence the name.

“You’re about the only normal one there is nowadays,” Jughead muttered, his mind wandering. “Guess that’s the world now.”

Jughead sighed and rolled back over onto his back.

His life was shit, but at least it wasn’t pathetic. He could be wandering around the walls of camp all day long, looking for nothing. He at least traveled with his friends and looked for supplies.

Never a dull moment with him and his friends.

And that’s the way it was for serpents in the den. 

Their lives weren’t slow.

And they were about to pick up speed real damn fast.

And the brakes?

They didn’t exist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! Hi! So, another chapter done! I’m really excited about this story so far, and I hope you guys are too! So, I’m gonna have most of the chapters be a flip of POV between Betty and Jughead. So odd numbered chapters are Betty, even numbered chapters are Jughead. Anyways, thank you guys for the love I got from chapter one! It makes me happy, and I’m glad some of you are enjoying this. Chapter three should be out soon!  
> Love you guys! <3


	3. Nothing Gold Can Stay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Self harm and mentions of physical abuse.

Betty shuddered as she rubbed her head, a wicked headache crashing on her like a tidal wave as she sat on the Andrews porch, a hot cup of coffee sat next to her. Fred, being Fred had made her a cup and brought it out to her. It sat next to her untouched, after ten minutes of it being out there.

Betty shook her head as she heard the door squeak closed behind her. “Whoever you are, please do not make any loud noises.”

Archie, his red hair messy and his clothes wrinkled, plopped down next to her, his eyes bright. “No promises.”

Betty snorted. “Speaking of loud, please remember tonight when you’re boning Kevin that your father is a staircase and two closed doors away.”

Archie smiled with a wince, running his hands through his hair. “Kevin was worried you might be able to hear us.”

“Hear you? It was like two blue whales breaching,” Betty joked.

Archie winced as he caught a glimpse of sunrise. “Please, please tell me you didn’t sleep out here.”

Betty shrugged. “My coat kept me warm.”

Archie bit his lip and looked over at his friend, his eyes warm and comforting.

“You’re still having nightmares then,” he spoke quietly.

Betty turned her gaze to match Archie’s, trying to keep a steady face. The nightmares always came back in the winter, around the same time her dad and Polly died. They never managed to pinpoint a date, so Betty would spend the winters grieving.

Betty picked at the skin on her fingers. “Winter’s always hard,” she muttered, apathetically. “I go through it every year, I know how to deal with it.”

Archie scooted closer. “Moose used to practice therapy, I’m sure he’d be glad to have a patient.”

Betty shakes her head. “Because my mom would love for me to share my problems and not think I’m blowing things out of proportion.”

“It’s not like what happens in the Cooper house is a secret,” Archie mumbled.

Betty bit her lip angrily. “Thanks Arch,” she snapped, standing up. “Glad to know that everybody knows my mom beats the shit out of me.”

“I don’t mean it like that.”

Betty huffed. “Whatever. I have a training session to get to. Tell your boyfriend when he wakes up that I’ll meet him there.” Archie protesting behind her, Betty stormed down the steps and onto the pavement.

❦

Jughead groaned as he slipped around the staircase corner, the strong smell of coffee flooding his nose as he tried to nurse the hangover that was in the process of handing him his ass. He hadn’t be wasted like Toni, but a hangover’s still a hangover.

“Morning,” FP said, already recovering from last night. He nudged a mug of coffee across the table towards Jughead. “Coffee?”

“Definitely,” Jughead mumbled, grabbing it and taking a large sip, the hot liquid burning his tongue.

“Easy there, that’s hot,” FP mentioned, a little too late.

“Thanks for the warning,” Jughead grumbled as he took a seat on the barstool across from his father, who seemed to be reviewing some kind of document.

“What are those?” Jughead questioned, taking a smaller sip of coffee this time.

“Scavenging reports,” FP sighed. “All about this one warehouse. The last three reports have mentioned it, said they say ‘bout twenty crates there.”

Jughead struggled not to choke on his drink as he listened to FP finish. He coughed, before raising his eyebrows and stared at him. “Twenty is enough to feed us for half of winter,” Jughead laughed, in shock.

“Exactly,” FP started, shaking his head. “But you have to trek into the middle of the woods to get to it. The group that found it got lucky and stumbled upon it, while the other two I sent out nearly got eaten.”  
“It’s _twenty_ _crates_ Dad,” Jughead said, determined. “When are we ever going to find a chance like that again?”

FP shrugged. “I dunno. I can only send a group of four, and I’m not sure if four is enough to take on the herd the other stumbled upon. Besides, there’s a big storm coming, and you’d be dead if you got stuck in that.”

“How old is that warehouse?”

“Old. Abandoned, looks like it was from the fourties at latest, it almost collapsed on the last group.”

Jughead stood up. “Then we have to go,” he stated. “If that storm is as big as you’re saying it is, then it’s going to destroy the place.”

FP winced. “Boy, you’re missing the point. I’m not going to force four people to go on some suicide mission for these crates.”

Jughead stared at his father, before shaking his head. “No. I’m taking Toni, Sweet Pea, and Fangs,” he stated finally. “People starved to death last year. I’m not letting that happen again.”

FP opened his mouth to speak, but Jughead cut him off.

“No,” he growled. “I’m going. Give me a map and some keys.”

By the time Jughead had finally gotten the map from FP, grabbed the keys for two trucks, and walked to Sweet Pea’s, the sun had fully come up.

Jughead walked in abruptly, not trying to be quiet as he slammed the door behind him.

Fangs was immediately scrambling to his feet, stumbling as he stood up. He shouted something Jughead couldn’t understand, and quickly enough, the rest had all come to.

“Get up!” Jughead shouted as they all groaned, Toni curled into a ball on the floor, whimpering. His hangover had kicked him in the ass this morning, he could only imagine the searing pain Toni was going through.

Sweet Pea winced as he popped his jaw, rubbing his head. “Jesus Christ, could you be any louder?”

“We’ve got places to be,” Jughead spoke, ignoring Sweet Pea.

Jellybean stumbled to her feet, yawning. “Like where?”

“I just need Sweet Pea, Toni, and Fangs,” Jughead said. “Sorry.”

“Great,” Jellybean grumbled, ambling over and shoving past him out the door. “See you whenever you get home, or whenever I wake up from my eternal nap.”

“Mind telling us what this is about?” Fangs snapped.

“We have to go into the woods to scavenge,” Jughead stated. “We’ve got good info that there’s at least twenty crates there.”

Toni had crawled into a chair. “Can’t we wait until we don’t have hangovers?”

Jughead snorted. “Sadly, no. There’s a storm coming that has a chance of taking the whole place down. We need to go today. We’ll be spending the night there, and we’ll hightail it back home.”

Sweet Pea threw on his leather jacket. “Well isn’t that just fantastic news. Got anything else for us Jones? Did you shoot my mom?”

Jughead rolled his eyes, swinging open the door and backing out of the house. “Pussies.”

~~❦~~

Betty rubbed her arms as she ambled silently through the street, staring at the frosty breath she was exhaling. Today was Thursday. That meant scavenging training. Scavenging training was something nobody except Reggie Mantle signed up for. Since nobody wanted to head back out into the deserted world, Tom Keller had made a program that forced fifteen people of random choice to join and be trained to scavenge for two weeks, before being sent out to find supplies. The group stayed for two months, before being replaced. At least three people out of every group died. 

The building that Tom used to host training was old and worn down to the point that living in it was deemed a hazard. Tom simply considered it the best place for his students to toughen up. Betty slipped inside, the door creaking as she opened it, and unsurprisingly, Tom’s class had already begun.

“Ms. Cooper,” he stated flatly, standing with posture that was almost too perfect. “You’re ten minutes late.” 

Betty nodded, swallowing. “Sorry sir. I didn’t realize what time it was.”

Tom sighed and rolled his eyes. “Take a seat Ms. Cooper. I was just about to review a possible location for supplies.” 

Betty bit her lip as she scurried over to a chair near the front, plopping down in between Reggie and Cheryl. Reggie had watched her the entire time as she sat down, whereas Cheryl couldn’t have cared less, and seemed more interested in her nails.

“I was wondering where you were,” Reggie whispered, keeping his eyes on Tom.

Betty swallowed as he breathed against her ear. Reggie was a brute womanizer, and Betty could remember a few times when she had seen Josie walking around sporting bruises. Most people chose to ignore it, choosing a cozy care free life instead of caring that they had abusers in their midst.

“Left late,” Betty replied, hoping to satisfy him.

Tom let out a loud cough, and Betty jerked her head to see him staring at her with a harsh look on his face.

“Wanna repeat what I just said, Cooper?”

Betty shrunk into her chair, clenching her fists and digging her nails in. “No, sir.”

Tom huffed. “I was trying to tell you about the area the group would be heading to. It is in the middle of the woods, which means you will need to know how to survive in case you get lost or run in to trouble. Do you know how to do that?" 

Betty shook her head shamefully. "No,sir."

Tom snorted. "Well, since you've taken a keen interest in disrupting my class, you can go on this trip."

Betty nodded, her fingernails now covered with blood. She rubbed it off on the back of her jeans, trying to pay as much attention as she could.

To Betty's luck, this wasn't an easy scavenge. It was at least a day's trip into the woods if you knew where you were going, and there were going to be no shortage of walkers on the way. Not to mention that when photos were passed around, it looked like a gust of wind could collapse the whole place. Of course, it had to be the location she was going to.

By the time Tom had finished speaking, the class looked uncomfortable. Nobody wanted to go on this suicide mission, not for a couple of crates. Betty had already screwed herself over, now Tom had three more people to send to what might be their death.  
Mantle," Tom stated. "I'm assuming you're up for this?"

Reggie perked up in his chair, nodding with a grin. "Always, sir."

Tom nodded respectfully back at him, making Betty writhe with unease. Reggie was a lap dog to Tom, which meant he was going to take the lead on this scavenge. Betty just prayed he didn't spend the entire time staring at her ass or her chest, like she had caught him doing before.

"Blossom, you'll go as well," Tom said.

Cheryl didn't say anything, but the annoyed look written on her face spoke a thousand words. Betty could already picture the scathing comments that were going to be made on the way. 

"And," Tom started, looking around. He stopped suddenly as the door creaked, a worn down Kevin stepping inside.

"Glad to see you could make it," Tom spoke lowly. "You can be the fourth person on this scavenge. And since you don't seem to care about it at all, you can take lead with Reggie."

Kevin ducked his head, nodding. “Yes, sir.” 

For the most part, Betty had noted that Kevin and his dad didn’t have a close relationship, and Kevin looked more like Tom’s servant than his son. It wasn’t abusive, and Tom didn’t hate his son, but they never looked comfortable near each other. Betty assumed Kevin coming out didn’t help ease the tension.

Tom stared at his son sternly, before fishing in his pocket for a pair of keys, handing them to his son. “Make sure to grab radios on the way back. If we don’t hear from you for more than six hours we’ll send a group out looking for you.”

Kevin took the keys, fiddling with them before speaking. “Okay.”

Tom gave his son a final glare before turning around. “As for the rest of you, I expect to see you the same time tomorrow if you’re not on duty. Class dismissed.”

~~❦~~

Jughead was silent as the truck bumped along the road towards the woods. Sweet Pea sat next to him, looking cramped as he slouched. 

“You doin’ okay Pea?” Jughead asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Just trying to fight my hangover,” he mumbled.

“Just that?”

“I haven’t had sex in three weeks, so I’m pretty frustrated.”

Jughead scoffed. “When did everyone stop putting out?”

“Since Fangs decided to say I was a fake gay,” he mumbled.

Jughead sighed. “It’s been awhile dude.”

Sweet Pea looked almost offended by this. “So? I thought I was bi, so I dated Fangs. I realized I wasn’t and I broke up with him.”

“No offense,” Jughead said. “But he’s gonna be pretty hurt. He was into you.”

Sweet Pea shifted in his seat. “Doesn’t give him a right to be a dick. I can’t tell you how much I wish I was into him. I’m just not. I was confused.”

Jughead nodded, patting his friend on the shoulder. “I get it. But being told by your boyfriend that you’re straight is a slap to the face. He had problems coming out, people told him it was fake. He’s gonna be worried it’s gonna happen to him.”

Sweet Pea sighed. “Yeah. I guess.”

As Jughead began to focus on the road again, tiny static began to cone through on the radio laid down next to him.

“Hey Jones, we got a problem.”

Jughead snatched it up quickly. “I told you not to leave before us, Toni.”

“Not important, jackass.”

“Okay,” Jughead continued. “What’s the issue?”

“We’re at the woods.”

“And?”

“We’ve got about thirty walkers surrounding our truck.”

Jughead exhaled slowly. It was gonna be a long day.


	4. Stolen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I’m really sorry I haven’t updated! About halfway through this chapter, AO3 bugged out and I lost my work. So I’m really sorry it’s been like a month since I updated. But I hope you enjoy this chapter, it was a lot of fun to write!

Betty said nothing as she hung her legs out the back of the supply truck, the wind blowing in her face as Cheryl sat next to her.

Reggie and Kevin sat up front, silent, other than the occasional grumble or one of them snapping to turn their radio up so they could listen in case any groups signaled for distress. That, or if they were called back for a random reason.

Cheryl pursed her lips and sighed as the truck hit another bump, staring at her nails. Somehow, during the apocalypse, Cheryl still cared about her nails being perfectly shaped more than anything else. That and her hair. If she wasn’t brushing it, it was because she couldn’t.

“How much longer?” Betty asked as a chill hit her.

Betty could hear the map Kevin had in his pocket crinkle as he pulled it out and open it up. “If I’m right, about five minutes.”

Cheryl huffed, tossing her legs back in the truck. “Fantastic. I can’t wait to spend the night in some worn down warehouse. Oh, and I almost forgot the best part; we don’t have any idea how many walkers are in those woods.”

Kevin sighed, most likely putting the map back based on the noise. “It’s not ideal, but we don’t get a say in it.”

Cheryl snorted. “Remind me whose father runs this whole thing?”

“Trust me, if he gave me any sort of favoritism, I wouldn’t be out here.”

Betty shifted uncomfortably, her nails grazing her palms as she waited for an arguement to break out. For once, Cheryl didn’t keep going.

Betty licked her lips and pursed them. “Mind if I keep an eye on the radio?”

“Nope,” Reggie said. “Give her the radio Keller.”

“Look at that Reggie,” Kevin replied snarkily, handing the small walkie talkie back to Betty. “You’re being lazy. Don’t think my dad would approve.”

Betty swallowed as she tried adjusting the walkie talkie, flipping through channels, trying to see if she could catch a signal from somebody.

“Y’know you’ve got a lot of balls for someone who couldn’t tell his own family who he wanted to date for five years.”

Betty winced as the words tumbled out of Reggie’s mouth. Any other time, Betty would’ve said something. Told him off, slapped him. But Cheryl Blossom sat right in front of her. And by the disgusted look on Cheryl’s face, Betty knew that backup was not needed from her.

It was quiet. Deadly quiet. The kind of quiet where you could breathe and it would sound loud. Then it was a blowout.

Cheryl was shouting loudly, Kevin was trying to hit Reggie without them swerving off the road, and Betty sat there silently, her chest tight as she struggled through a panic attack that had her clenching her fists to where they were white. Tiny drops of blood oozed, and the truck was practically shaking.

When all of the sudden, there it was.

A tiny voice on the walkie talkie, struggling through the static.

Betty could barely hear it at first, but she tried adjusting it, and held it up to her ear. Still too loud to hear.

“Shut up!” she screamed, silencing the three. She adjusted the sound dial on her radio, before setting it down.

_“Mayday mayday! I need assistance now! I repeat, I need backup! Over!”_

The voice was female and mildly high as it struggled through the static. Betty scrambled for it, grabbing it before Kevin reached over and snatched it out of her hand

“Ma’am what’s your location and issue, over.” Betty’s leg bounced as she listened to Kevin speak calmly.

_”We’re at the edge of Foxwood Forest, parked on the street with a dead end. We’re surrounded by at least fifty walkers, we have two people on their way, but I don’t think there’s enough of us, over.”_

“We’re on our way, over.”

Kevin set the radio off to the side, pulling his gun off his belt and cocking it. “Lucky for them, they’re exactly where we’re heading to. Cheryl, load up.”

Cheryl turned to grab her shotgun off the wood floor of the supply truck, while Kevin turned around to face Betty with a concerned gaze. “Can you do this?”

Betty opened her mouth, but nothing came out. It had been years since she’d touched a gun, let alone use it. Her hand wasn’t going to be steady, her anxiety had killed any chances of that. Still, she might have a shot at slowing something down.

Betty nodded. “I think so.”

Kevin nodded back. “I’ll try and cover you.”

Kevin turned back, squirming in his seat for a moment. “Be careful. Don’t get bit.” He swallowed. “If it’s your life or theirs, save your own ass.”

❦

Groans and screams.

Those were the only things Jughead knew at the moment.

Toni was screaming as walkers shook the truck they were in, the amount of hungry groans coming from them enough to wake up a hibernating bear.

Jughead and Sweet Pea had hopped out of their pickup, firing on the walkers as soon as they arrived.

Now, as they stood on the ashy ground, they panted, struggling to reload when they needed to and keep as much distance from the walkers as possible.

Jughead couldn’t breathe as he reloaded, before aiming and firing. It had to be a shot to the head or he had just wasted a bullet. He couldn’t just go crazy and fire every which way. Doing that was an easy way to die.

Jughead tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he reloaded again, scanning the herd. At least twenty were left.

“We don’t have enough ammo!” he shouted to Sweet Pea, who was sweating bullets as he fired into the herd.

“Fuck!” Sweet Pea shouted as he looked for more ammo. “I’m out!”

Jughead shot three more shots. Two missed. He glanced over to where he had been keeping his ammo. Nothing left.

“Fuck,” he breathed. “Go to knives!”

“We’d get eaten alive!”

“We’re getting eaten alive if we don’t do anything!”

Jughead reached towards his belt, yanking out a long blade. “No guts no glory!” he shouted sarcastically.

“If we survive this I’ll kill you myself.”

Jughead winced, shaking his head before he charged forward, grabbing the collar of the first walker in sight. Swiftly, he jammed his blade into it’s skull, ripping it out and letting the body drop.

He let out a grunt as he felt a hand on his back, and he turned and swung, tiny drops of blood splattering on his face as he drove it in.

Through the noise, he heard a strangled cry. Looking over, he saw Sweet Pea fighting off at least three.

“Sw-“

Without warning, he felt at least four or five pairs of hands on him, dragging him to the ground. He yelled as he smashed into the dirt, trying to take a swing as the demorphed and aged walkers opened their mouths.

Suddenly, the world got real slow.

Jughead realized.

This was it.

This was the end.

His arm went slack as he breathed in, waiting for teeth to sink in to his skin.

And then the world got real fast again.

Blood splattered across his face as bodies fell limp on him. He grunted, shoving them off of him as strength returned to his body. He rolled over as they fell off of him, his head snapping over to the left.

Four people stood there, opening fire calmly onto the herd that had begun to drop like flies. Jughead caught Sweet Pea struggling to his feet in the corner of his eye.

Then came the silence as the final walker dropped. Jughead panted, gasping for air as he slowly felt his clothes for tears where he would’ve been bitten or scratched. None. He’d live another day.

Toni and Fangs stumbled out of the vehicle, both sighing with relief as the group of four stood before them.

Jughead swallowed as a younger man with pale skin, a short brown haircut and muscled arms came over, extending a hand out.

Jughead rolled over, grabbing on to it and pulling himself onto his feet. As Jughead stared at the stranger, he expected him to be surprised or at least mildly shocked, considering what he had stumbled upon. Instead he got a mostly concerned look, a lot like the cops had given him whenever his dad was arrested.

“Are you alright?” he asked, a softer tone than Jughead had been expecting. “No bites or scratches?”

Jughead shook his head. “I’m good.” He turned around. “Pea, you good?”

Sweet Pea nodded, leaning on his elbows on the trunk. “Never better.”

Jughead nodded back, before looking back at the stranger. “We’re all fine.”

The man sighed. “Good. We got a distress signal from your lady friend, if you’re wondering how we got here.”

“Fair enough. Thanks for responding, you saved our asses.”

The man shrugged. “We were heading here anyway.”

Jughead bit his tongue, trying to avoid swearing. “Yeah?” he asked, trying to sound friendly. “Where to?”

“There’s a warehouse in the woods, we got sent here to scavenge it.”

Jughead bit inside his cheek. “Small world after all, we were heading to the same place.”

The man raised his eyebrows. “Really? Well if that’s the case why don’t we just go as a group, split the place fifty fifty.”

Jughead nodded, trying to seem as convincing as possible. They needed the supplies. All of it. But he had just been saved by four strangers. They could easily claim the whole place and call it even. It was still a lot of crates. It couldn’t be all bad, right?

“I’m Jughead, by the way,” he added, smiling. “Toni was the one who radioed you guys, Fangs was with her in the car, and the eighty foot man over here is Sweet Pea.”

The man’s chest gave a heave as he grinned. “I’m Kevin.” He pointed over to his group. “This is Reggie, Cheryl, and Betty.”

Jughead scanned the other three. Reggie was Jughead’s height, with dark black hair and a muscly build. He had a look of entitlement written on his face, and Jughead simply wrote him off as a douchebag.

The girl Jughead assumed to be Cheryl stood, almost all of her weight on one foot as she stared at the Serpents. She almost looked disgusted until she took a glance over at Toni. Her pale skin and fiery, long, lush hair all added to the fact that she was undoubtedly pretty. Jughead knew Toni was already thinking of ways to seduce her.

And then his eyes rested on Betty. Unlike her companions, she almost was hunched over, her intelligent green eyes looking at the Serpents in fear rather than contempt. She clung tightly to her gun, and by the looks of the fact that her safety was on, she hadn’t fired. He could faintly see a bruise on her cheek, and she was boney. Still, Jughead’s breath hitched as he looked at her. Even as a shy, scrawny outlier, he couldn’t help but think she was beautiful.

Kevin’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “Your last name’s Jones?”

Jughead nodded, putting his hands in his pockets, feeling uncomfortable for thinking about Betty as long as he did. “Yeah. I’m assuming you know who my dad is?”

“He’s the Serpent King,” Kevin said, trying to hide a grimace.

Jughead smiled, shaking his head. “I don’t bite, I promise.”

Kevin gave an uncomfortable smile. “Yeah.”

“Look, I don’t know about you guys, but I really would like to get there before dark, so chop-chop,” Sweet Pea stated.

Reggie chimed in, a low voice that made Jughead struggle not to writhe around. “We don’t know how many walkers are out there. If we all get trapped, there’s nobody to come save the day this time.”

“Okay,” Toni said. “Let’s split up into pairs then. We take different paths and meet up at the warehouse.”

“I’ll take Betty,” Reggie said, quicker than what made Jughead comfortable as he watched the tiny blonde shrink.

“No,” Jughead spoke. “Look you guys are Northside, right?”

Kevin nodded.

“Okay, so if Northside pairs with only Northside, you guys have the chance to group back together and screw us over,” Jughead said, before quickly adding, “hypothetically.”

Cheryl finally spoke. “As much as I would love not to agree with hobo over here, he’s right. One of us could ambush the other.”

Jughead raised an eyebrow as the word hobo rolled off her tongue, but thought better of arguing with the person on his side.

“Fair enough,” Kevin stated. “How do we decide who pairs up with who?”

“Well, if we get attacked without warning,” Fangs jumped in. “Then we’ll need to be able to defend ourselves with a knife, or our partner needs to be able to help without getting themselves killed in the process. So I say Toni and blondie over there shouldn’t buddy up.”

Kevin bit his lip. “Okay. Cheryl’s got enough fire and spunk if Toni, I believe, and her wanna work together.”

Toni crossed her arms, shrugging. “I’m down.”

Cheryl pushed her bottom lip out. “Works for me.”

“Reggie, right?” Jughead asked.

Reggie raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“You and Sweet Pea will probably do the most damage together, so why don’t you pair up?”

Reggie sighed, clearly unhappy. “Fine.”

“I’ll work with Kevin,” Fangs added.

Kevin put his hands together. “That leaves Jughead and Betty. You two okay with that?”

Jughead nodded, wincing inwardly as Betty looked at him, a hint of fear in her eyes.

“Everyone gets to the warehouse by midnight, and if not we’ll send someone out after you,” Kevin stated.

“Works for me,” Jughead grinned. “See you on the flip side.”

❦

Betty didn’t want to do this.  _God,_ Betty did not want to do this.

Betty stood quietly as she watched the man who she believed was called Jughead grab some supplies out of his truck. He stood in the bed of it, grabbing ammo for his gun, while Betty’s sat in her holster, the safety never turned off.

Everybody else had headed out, Sweet Pea and Reggie leaving last, Sweet Pea having to grab ammo as well while Jughead waited.

“Okay,” Jughead said, jumping off the bed and closing it. “I’m good to go.”

Betty licked her lips and stared at him. He was tall, good looking, and from what she could barely see underneath the leather, he was fairly well muscled. 

But he was a Serpent. The way Sierra had talked about them made them seem like a bunch of rapist, alcoholic, drug addict thieves who just wanted to kill people. And even though Jughead had been decently friendly, he still frightened her, and she didn’t hide it very well.

“Good,” she murmured, clenching her fists.

He stopped and looked at her with warm, blue-green hazel eyes. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”

Betty bit her lip and inhaled. “I know.”

He gave a weak smile, putting his gun in his holster. “Then why are you afraid of me?”

“Let’s just call it trust issues,” she mumbled.

Jughead jammed his hands in his pockets, and he took a step closer. She could faintly smell cigarettes and cologne. 

“I get it,” he laughed dryly. “You know who I am, you know who my dad is. I’m the big bad Serpent Prince.”

She looked up as he continued. “But I promise you, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

She inhaled sharply, staring at him. Biting his lip, he stuck out his pinkie finger and gave her a warm smile. 

Betty swallowed. Then she giggled, and he was laughing softly. She extended a shaky hand with her pinkie finger out, and she gripped it around his.

“There,” he smiled. “If I’ve lied, cut my pinkie off. Those are the rules.”

Betty smiled, the knot in her stomach not as tight as it was before.

If Kevin was fond of him, surely they get along. 

How bad could one more friend be?


	5. Pluviophile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, hello! took me a little bit to make this since i was on vacation and volleyball has been busy recently, and school has been a pain in my ass. still, i’m glad to be back. this chapter was fun to write, so i hope you guys enjoy it!

If there was one thing Betty didn’t like, it was the gun on her belt. She handn’t handled one in years. The weight felt wrong and the fact that she had something that lethal just hanging off her made her feel uncomfortable. Now it was what she had to focus on and keep her hand by as she wandered the woods.

Jughead had been kind enough to take the lead, in case something or someone popped out. From what she could tell, he was just as ready as she was to rip it out of the holster and fire. For the most part, though, Betty could feel anxiety knotting back up in her stomach as she thought of him simply turning around and firing.

She knew damn well it’d take him less than five seconds to do it. Sure, she might have a good reaction time, but she wasn’t the best shot when she was used to firing it. Even if he wasn’t a good shot either, she’d be pumelled in a fist fight. He was taller than her and outweighed her by at least forty pounds. Not to mention the huge knife she could see in his pocket.

Betty tried to remember his promise to her earlier, the kind words, but she still couldn’t help stop dead in her tracks if he made any sudden movements.

He stopped, and Betty halted a good distance from him, waiting on something to go wrong.

“We should be there in maybe twenty minutes,” he stated, looking around. “We can stop and take a breather if you need it.”

Betty shook her head. “Kevin will wanna know where we are. We’ll be lucky if we don’t show up last to begin with.”

Jughead shrugged. “Maybe. Sweet Pea and your friend probably ripped through the walkers they found, but I’m not positive Cheryl and Toni didn’t take their sweet time.”

“No,” Betty mumbled. “Cheryl wouldn’t wanna show up last.”

“Toni wouldn’t mind if she got to fuck somebody,” Jughead suggested.

Betty gave a small shrug, shivering as a gust of wind blew over them, nearly knocking them over.

Jughead looked up through the tree branches. “Storm’s getting close pretty fast. Time to put on our running legs.”

Betty jumped at the clap of thunder in the distance, watching as Jughead already started to jog away. Terrified of being left, she scampered after him, wincing as she watched the sky light up.

Quickly within minutes of running, heavy, cold rain drops began to splash down on them, already dripping through her sweater and soaking her to the bone. She almost considered asking for Jughead’s jacket before realizing he’d probably need it too.

The ground became muddly and slick as her hair dripped down her back, sticking to her and wetting down the back of her jeans. For the most part, Jughead was fine other than wet hair, the rain drops seemed to run off or simply sit on his leather jacket rather than soak it. Lucky bastard.

More than once, she got caught in the mud, trying to keep up with him. If she stumbled or got stuck for more than a few moments, he’d stop and wait on her, but more often than not wanted to keep going.

In her desperate attempt to keep up, she barely noticed as he skidded to a stop and she ran into his backside.

“Sor-“

“Shhh.”

He had leaned his hand back on his arm as she looked over his shoulder. A walker, turned around, not paying attention.

He silently reached for his knife, whispering to her. “Stay here.”

She swallowed as she watched him slip across the forest floor without making a sound, his hand tight around the blade. She inhaled as he lifted it to go for the kill, before she felt the sudden hands on her shoulder.

Within a moment, she was screaming as she was knocked down into the mud. Adrenaline pumping through her, she kicked, trying to scramble away as it hovered over her, leaning in as it tried to bite her.

She felt the ground go loose underneath her as she tumbled down a small hill, shrieking as she tried reaching for her knife only for it to slip out of her hand and slice her palm.

Betty felt the air blow out of her body as she landed at the bottom, unable to suck any back in. The walker was already crawling towards her, grabbing her boot while she scrambled for her gun, her injured hand coating a side with blood as it slipped.

She kicked before hearing a loud bang, as the walker dropped dead at her feet. She let out a sob, kicking it away as she backed up and cradled her hand.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jughead rushing down the hill as fast as he could without tripping and making the same fall as she did. He was instantly on one knee, his hand on her shoulder, asking her a question that she didn’t hear as she closed her eyes and continued to sob.

“Betty,” he murmured softly, rubbing her arm as she jerked away from it.

“Betty,” he repeated.

Seeing that she couldn’t speak through her breakdown, she could feel his hands running gently over her body, checking for bites or scratches. She winced as her traced her shoulder, and he stopped, barely tugging the wet fabric down her arm. She watched, teary eyed as he traced a scrape that was lightly bloody.

He noticed she had started to calm down, even though she was still crying. As softly as he could, he pulled the wet sleeve back up, pulling it over the scrape.

“Betty,” he almost whispered.

She sniffled.

“Did you get bit?” he asked.

Betty felt a lump in her throat as she swallowed, choking out another small sob. Delicately, like she would break if he touched her wrong, Jughead grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand closer to him. Her hand was bloody enough to hide the nail marks, thank god. That was the last thing Betty needed right now.

Reaching for a smaller pocket knife, he reached down for the only clean part of her muddy sweater, cutting it off and wrapping it around her cut tightly. She winced as he gave it a final tug and a tear slipped out.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “The tighter it is, the better.”

“It’s okay,” she murmured.

He looked at her with kind, concerned hazel orbs that made her almost fidget under his benevolent gaze.

Suddenly he snapped out of it, turning as he slipped his jacket off, setting it across her shoulders. She stared at him in his t-shirt and jeans, a choice that made her almost freeze to death just looking at it.

“You’ll get wet,” she croaked.

“You’ll probably die of hypothermia if I keep it,” he joked lightly.

He grunted as he got to his feet, leaning down and grabbing her uninjured hand, pulling her up. She gasped as she felt her ankle burn as she stepped on it, lifting it back up so it hovered over the ground.

Jughead felt his arms instinctively grab around her waist to keep her standing, putting their faces mere inches apart.

“You must’ve twisted it when you fell,” he observed.

“That’s the last thing we need,” she whimpered. “You’ll freeze to death trying to get me there.”

“If you even suggest that I leave you behind I’ll carry you there on my back.”

She sighed. “At least just let me lean on your shoulder so I don’t wear you out and you can protect yourself if you need to.”

“Fine,” he agreed. “But I’m carrying you if you get too tired, and it’ll be easier if I just carry you up the hill.”

Betty nodded. “I left my knife and my gun on the ground, do you mind getting them for me?”

Jughead laughed softly. “It seems I’ve become a slave.”

Betty bit her lip to hide a tiny giggle as he let her wobble on jer one foot for a moment as he walked over to grab her bloody gun and knife, putting them back on her belt for her.

She gave him a soft smile. “Thanks.”

As he crouched down to pick her up, Betty wasn’t sure if she saw a flicker of admiration in his eyes, or it was just the sun hitting him just right.

❦

Jughead winced as water slid into his eye, dripping down from his hair. He was decently wet at this point, but refused to take his jacket back. He could faintly hear her teeth chattering as she leaned on him, despite her best efforts to hide it.

“Just a little further,” Jughead breathed, feeling like he was limping as he tried to keep Betty’s slow pace. It was aggravating, going this slow in the pouring rain, but she didn’t want to be carried, and he wasn’t going to just ditch her.

Another problem was the fact that he felt utterly exposed. He had his right arm wrapped around her backside, and her arms were snaked around his waist. To be able to shoot or stab something properly, he’d have to shove her to the ground, risking hurting her worse.

Jughead bit his tongue, fighting a complaint, mentally punching himself for turning his back on her. If there was one, there was clearly going to be another one close by. He left her behind to just get attacked and nearly killed. Hearing her whimper anytime she accidentally stepped on her injured ankle was like a slap in the face reminding him of his stupidness.

Maybe it was because he was used to the weakest one he scavenged with being Jellybean, who he had seen kick ass with a small switchblade before. For the first time since Chicago, when the outbreak first started, Jughead was protecting someone. Before, it had been easier than expected. It was Jellybean, someone somewhat capable of handling herself and who didn’t jump if a walker jumped at her.

Now, he was here in the pouring rain, with a girl he had known for maybe two hours at max. She was small and too bony, not to mention twitchy. He hadn’t seen her calm at all, when he thought of it. Whether her hand was tapping on her waist or she was anxiously looking around, she couldn’t seem to relax.

Betty exhaled, sounding almost pained as she winced. “Hang on,” she mumbled, shivering.

Jughead watched her fumble, as she let one of her hands go, and he quickly put one of his over her stomach to keep her from falling.

“I’m good,” she slurred, and Jughead’s heart dropped.

“Shit,” he mumbled. “Give me your good hand.”

“W-What do you mean ‘good hand’?”

Jughead swallowed, his hand creeping up her neck to try and find her pulse point. All he needed was a strong one. When he finally found it, he bit his lip. Hard.

“Fuck. You’ve got hypothermia. I need to get you there fast.”

Not waiting, he lowered himself, picking her up as she let out a tiny squeak, shivering. He starting running as quick as he could without knocking them both down.

By the time he couldn’t run anymore, it had already hit dusk. He was dripping, and knew he’d be fucked too if he didn’t get them inside fast. The storm made it darker then it already was, and the thunder didn’t help, making Betty jump in his arms any time it happened.

Finally, he decided he needed to try and help her now, or she probably wouldn’t make it to the warehouse. Setting her down, leaning her back on a tree, he pulled the jacket off of her, peeling her wet sweater off. Her skin felt ice cold, some of it looked frostbitten.

Picking his jacket back up, he wrapped it around her, buttoning it up to try and get her as much warmth as he possible could.

“I’m not shivering anymore,” she spoke slowly and strangely, and it took him a second to realize what she said.

Jughead shook his head, his breathing quick. She wasn’t shivering. She had a twenty minutes minimum left before she was dead.

“C’mon,” Jughead grunted as he lifted her back up. “You’re not fucking dying on me.”

He felt her slack in his arms as he began to walk, and saw that her eyes were closed. She had passed out.

Finally, his arms feeling like jelly from the position they were in and his legs tired, Jughead felt himself drop to the ground, Betty cradled in his arms.

This was how she was going to die. Cold and in the arms of a stranger, and it was his fault. He should’ve watched her. He should’ve given her his jacket from the start, and peeled the wet sweater off earlier. He was the reason she was here.

Then there was the bright light shining in his eyes. He let out a sudden gasp as he looked away.

“Jughead?”

Sweet Pea.

“It’s me!”

Jughead scrambled to his feet, clutching Betty tightly in his arms.

“Jesus Christ is she-“

“No,” he stuttered. “But she will be if she doesn’t get inside soon.”

“Give her to me, you’re fucking exhausted,” Sweet Pea reached forward.

Almost like a child protecting his toy, he shook his head and took a step back. He got her here. She was his to protect.

“No,” Jughead stated firmly. “Just show the way.”

Sweet Pea let out a huff beckoning at him and turning on his heel to rush from where he came from.

“Where the hell are we going?” Jughead shouted over a clap of thunder.

“We found a huge ass cabin with some girl named Lodge in it willing to let us spend the night,” Sweet Pea explained, trying to match Jughead’s  
pace.

“How much farther?” Jughead asked.

Sweet Pea shrugged. “At this pace, maybe three minutes. About one if we bolt for it.”

Jughead turned, grabbing Sweet Pea’s arms and putting Betty into them. “Run, I’ll be good.”

With that, Sweet Pea was off like a bullet, his long legs making strides that had him disappearing into darkness in seconds.

❦

By the time Jughead stumbled upon the big cabin, it was dark. He climbed the steps, soaked, tired, and ready to quit. But he had to keep fighting. He had to know she was okay. Jughead ambled through the door, only to be met by Fangs quickly jumping up and slipping around him to close the door. The cabin was bigger on the inside than what Jughead could barely see on the outside. A roaring fireplace was going as the Northsiders and the Serpents sat gathered around it, looking at Jughead. From what he could see, there was a staircase leading to at least four different rooms. “You-“ “How is she?” he asked bluntly. Toni, who was cramped next to Cheryl on a loveseat, pointed to the stairs. Jughead bumped past Fangs, sprinting up the stairs, and turning to see a single door open. He rushed down the hall to see a small, black haired latina woman looking down at Betty, covered in blankets. The woman must’ve heard the squeaking of his wet combat boots, as she turned and stood up to look at him. “I’m guessing you’re Jughead,” she spoke calmly, with a smooth voice. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off. “She’s fine. Definitely got hypothermia, but I changed her into warm clothes and she’s under at least four blankets. Not to mention the fireplace.” Jughead let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “T-Thank you.” “You’re welcome,” she smiled. “I’m Veronica.” “Nice to meet you,” he said, trying to slip in through the doorway. “No, no, no,” she denied him, stepping in his way. You’re going to change into some warm clothes and then you’re going to crawl your ass into that bed.” “Wait, what?” he asked. “You both were out there getting soaked to the bone. It wouldn’t surprise me if you had hypothermia too. This is the warmest room in the house, and body heat’s the best way to warm up. Besides, I only have six rooms, so two people are sharing anyways.”

“I left you a pair of pants and a shirt over on the dresser,” Veronica added as she brushed by him. “Get some rest. From what your tall friend said, you seriously need it.”

Jughead stepped forward and heard the door click closed behind him as he crept across the room to the clothes Veronica had left for him. He’d have to figure out a way to repay her tomorrow.

Sluggishly, Jughead shrugged out of his clothes and into the pajamas, almost groaning at the warmth they had compared to his wet shirt and jeans. He could see his jacket hung up on the dor as he turned around, when he finally took a good long look at Betty.

She looked tiny and fragile, buried beneath all the covers, but part of him felt at ease, knowing she was warm and safe. He felt his heart skip a beat at the thought, and he stopped to think to himself.

What was he doing? He had met this girl this morning and he was acting like he had known her his entire life. He felt like he had been punched in the gut when he realized he had probably spent more time protecting and trying to save this girl than he did Jellybean.

Tiredly, Jughead managed to make his way around the other side of the bed and lift up the covers, burying himself in the warmth, and feeling his hand brush her arm.

He swallowed, hesitating, before moving closer and pulling her gently towards him and he wrapped an arm around her.

_Body warmth. Not a romantic gesture, just listening to Veronica._

But still, as he peacefully drifted off into a deep slumber, he wondered if Betty would ever even think of cuddling with him.


	6. Colére

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Assault, self harm, eating disorder, and mentions of abuse.

__Betty groaned as she rolled over, the soft crackling of a fire flooding her ears. Feeling her eyelids weigh down on her as she blinked herself awake, she propped herself on one elbow, wincing, feeling as if she had been punched in the gut.

Betty gazed around the room, her head throbbing and her hand stinging. Taking a quick glance at her hand, she saw a large bandage wrapped around her palm, but thankfully not the other one.

She didn’t realize how warm she was until she saw the covers that her body was buried under, and she pushed them off. She was immediately met by a chill.

Tenderly, Betty tossed her legs over the side of the bed, gasping as she felt the familar burn from her twisted ankle. It was bandaged, but still impossible to stand on. She didn’t have to look to know it was swollen and ugly.

“What on earth are you doing?”

Betty spun her head around to see a familar pair of greenish blue eyes staring at her in dismay, his black hair messy and clearly needing to be combed.

“Sorry,” she apologized as he came around to set her back down on the bed.

“It’s fine, just don’t get up again without someone’s help, you’ll hurt yourself.”

Betty nodded. “Where am I?”

Jughead shrugged. “A cabin a couple miles from the warehouse. Some Veronica girl was kind enough to let us stay until the storm passes. Which by the looks of it, will be awhile.”

A loud boom that shook the cabin made Betty flinch, and clench her fist, her nails digging in.

Jughead gave her a lopsided smile. “You don’t like loud noises, do you?”

Betty shook her head. “My mom likes to scream a lot.”

Jughead nodded. “I get it. My dad’s a drunk, he tends to not be friendly unless he’s sober.”

Betty looked in Jughead eyes. “Does he ever hit you?”

“No,” Jughead plopped down next to Betty on the bed. “He’s shoved me a few times, but he apologized. Never punched me.”

“Oh,” was all that Betty said.

There was a silence before Jughead spoke again.

“What about your mom?”

Betty said nothing, just dug her fingers in and glowered at the floor.

Jughead sighed and rested his hand on her back, feeling her slightly jump at the contact.

“Does your D-“

“He’s dead,” she spoke bluntly.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Don’t be,” she mumbled. “It’s my fault.”

“How?”

Silence again.

Betty pondered why she was sitting here, telling these details to someone she hardly knew. She was telling him something she didn’t have the balls to tell anybody else. It was truly odd, why she felt more comfortable around him then she had ever felt around her best friends.

“I’m hungry,” she mumbled, clearly not eager to actually talk about how she had left her father to be eaten, hearing him scream her name as she ran. She might’ve barely opened up, but it still felt overwhelming.

Jughead gave a sigh before deciding not to push any further, and just gingerly grabbed her waist and let her lean on his shoulder.

Tentatively, Jughead helped her across the room and slip into the hall before giving up and picking her up to carry her down the stairs. She could’ve sworn he muttered something about it being better for her ankle, but she said nothing as they finally reached the downstairs living room, where everyone seemed to be playing cards and eating breakfast.

“Sleeping beauty’s awake,” Cheryl commented as she took a bite of pancake.

Jughead gently placed her down on the ground, her foot hovering and her weight on his leather free shoulder. The fabric of his shirt was soft and smelled like him. Cologne and cigarettes.

Kevin, who had been on his stomach and intent on the game, gave a smile and sat up. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore,” Betty replied evasively. Her whole body ached and she’d love nothing more to be in bed, eating noodle soup and reading. Still, she could be worse, and she knew they’d wanna get moving as soon as they could.

Kevin gave her another one of his award winning smiles, before beckoning her. “Come sit down, I’ll get you a plate.”

“No need,” a sweet, feminine voice chirped from the side. Betty turned to see a short, raven headed girl carrying a plate of food. Pancakes, bacon, even a mug of coffee was in her other hand.

“I was going to bring this up to you if you didn’t come down with Jughead,” the woman smiled. “I’m Veronica, by the way. You’re Betty, correct?”

Betty nodded, swallowing.

Veronica gestured, plate still in hand. “Please, sit. You’re hurt and the best thing you can do is rest.”

Jughead assisted Betty as she hobbled across the room, dropping herself down next to Kevin as Veronica handed her a plate of food and coffee.

Betty hadn’t realized how hungry she was until the smell wafted into her mouth, and it took everything in her not to just gorge herself.

Betty’s cheeks burned as she remembered Alice knocking her out of her chair and kicking her in the ribs for wanting extras.

_“Can you imagine what people would think of me in this world if I had a fat daughter?”_ Alice had spat. _“Your actions reflect mine. You wanna be fat? You get punished for it, you spineless bitch.”_

Betty bit her tongue and resigned to her coffee. Only a few calories. Something her mother would approve of.

Jughead had settled over between a Toni that was far too close to Cheryl to be friendly, and a Sweet Pea that seemed more focused on the poker game than the people around him.

Betty felt Kevin nudge her arm, and Betty only just realized she had been staring.

“You wanna play?” Kevin offered. “It’s not real money, we’re just dicking around.”

Betty shrugged, taking two cards, and trying to use her best poker face. A two of spades and an eight of hearts. Of course. The worst hand known to man.

“Check,” Toni chirped, the rest of the group following.

Betty bit her lip as it came to her turn. Polly had been fantastic at poker, and had been a skilled liar in return. If she ever had a shit hand, she bet big immediately.

“One hundred,” Betty spoke, hoping she sounded confident, she reached back for a black chip, gasping as she pulled on her stomach before throwing the chip in the middle.

“You bitch,” Kevin muttered. “Fold.”

Betty giggled as he flipped three cards from the middle, not knowing he had given up to an incredible awful hand.

Ten of clubs, three of diamonds, six of spades. Still no pairs. But they didn’t know that.

Betty fought back the urge to laugh as she watched both Cheryl and Fangs refuse to match and throw down their cards.

Betty watched intently as Jughead stared at his hand, then gazed over at her. He smirked, before reaching for his fresh pile of chips.

“I see your one hundred,” he started, not taking his brilliant eyes off of her. “And I raise you two.”

Throwing three black chips in the middle, Jughead winked at Betty, and she felt her stomach clench. She couldn’t tell if it was flirty or friendly, but before she could even process it, Reggie had thrown out four black chips.

“I raise you one hundred.”

Betty felt her heart clench. She just needed to keep betting. The higher she went, the less confident they’d be.

“I see your four hundred,” she tried to sound steady. “And I raise you five.”

She tried to seem cocky as she threw her chips in the already large pile.

Kevin flipped another card, Toni folded, and Jughead and Reggie matched Betty as she checked.

Kevin flipped the fifth card. Ace of clubs. Useless to her.

“Six hundred,” Jughead announced, setting his cards down and simply shoving them into the middle. He crossed his arms, smirking.

Reggie growled, clear resentment that had been there since the start bubbling up. “Fold.”

Betty was slow to match Jughead, deciding it best not to raise for once.

“Two hundred,” Jughead stated, tossing the chips in.

“Four.”

“One.”

“Ten.”

Jughead sighed happily before leaning backwards, his arms still crossed. Betty could tell now she looked desperate, and he gave her a warm smile and another wink before shrugging.

“Fold.”

Betty laughed as she threw down her cards facing up.

“Gotcha!”

She laughed as the group groaned, and she felt elated at her victory, despite the fact that it had been generously gifted to her.

Reggie shook his head, clearly furious. “What complete bullshit.”

“Sorry,” Betty said, giggling.

“No, it’s bullshit,” Reggie snapped, and the smile was practically slapped off of her face. She felt Kevin shift next to her.

“It’s not my fault you folded Reggie,” Betty spoke in a hushed tone.

“Yeah, but I would’ve fucking won had you not pretended your hand was better than it was.”

“Just calm down Reggie,” Kevin soothed. “It’s just a game.”

“Yeah, well, I’m sick of being treated like trash by Betty,” he snarled, making Betty back up.

Out of the corner of her eye, Betty caught Jughead sitting upright, looking ready to spring into action if Reggie did something.

“How, exactly have I treated you like trash?” Betty asked, remembering some of the comments he had whispered to her and all the times he had gotten closer than she wanted.

“You avoid me, you insult me, hell you won’t even look at me!”

“Because you’re an asshole,” Betty spat with more force than she intended. Something inside her burned at the thought that he was implying that she was being the bitch.

Betty watched as something inside Reggie snapped, and he grabbed her shirt collar, his palm going hard against her cheek, knocking her back to the floor.

Within a second she heard shouting, along with someone being tackled to the floor. Betty lay curled on her side, sobbing as her body throbbed.

“Enough!” Veronica shouted. “Take him outside if you want to fight, but not in here.”

Betty let out another sob as she watched through blurry eyes. Kevin hauled Reggie to his feet, throwing him out the front door.

“Take a few hours to fucking think, you motherfucker!”

Jughead knelt down by Betty, along with Cheryl and Toni.

“It’s okay,” Cheryl murmured, brushing Betty’s face, causing Betty to sob again.

“I’m gonna take her back upstairs,” Jughead whispered, reaching under her waist and hoisting her up.

“What a fucking asshole,” Toni snarled. “Who the fuck would hit someone over a fake poker game?”

Jughead stared down at the small, crying woman in his arms, his eyes tender and warm.

“I don’t have a clue.”

❦

Jughead sighed as he took a sip of his black coffee, feeling it burn down his throat while he stared into space, his face in his palm.

He had taken Betty upstairs and managed to get her to fall asleep after a couple minutes, but she had cried the whole time, cradling her face. It didn’t surprise him that it hurt, especially considering how bulked up Reggie was and how small she was.

Jughead clenched his fist as he replayed the moment in his mind. Betty being elated that he had folded to let her win, before Reggie literally slapped the smile off of her. It made his blood boil, the thought that someone could just easily hit her over a stupid card game.

The thought threw him back to his earlier conversation with Betty. Her mom was hitting her, and it wouldn’t surprise him if she was starving him based on how skinny she was. Sure, Toni and Jellybean were lean, but Betty was a Northsider. Cheryl looked much more filled out and healthier than she did. 

Not to mention her saying it was her fault for her dad’s death. He had blamed himself for his mother’s death for a long time, but he guessed Betty’s dad had been dead for awhile. He had never met anybody who looked similar to her when he ran into Northsider groups, and that and disease seemed to be the only way Northsiders seemed to die. Not to mention Betty had blamed herself, and she clearly hadn’t been outside Northside in a long time. Jughead gritted his teeth, imagining her mother screaming at her and blaming her daughter for her husband’s death.

Jughead hardly noticed Toni slipping into the kitchen, her hands jammed into her jean pockets.

“Watcha thinking about Jones?”

“Thinking about all the ways you can kill somebody.”

Toni snorted. “So you’ve been thinking about beating the shit out of that prick too.”

Jughead shook his head. “I mean, he didn’t hesitate. The asshole just fucking grabbed her and swung.”

“I’d love nothing more than to stab him,” Toni sighed. “Although, I think leader boy might do it himself.”

“Kevin?” Jughead asked.

Toni nodded. “That’s the one. I could hear him on the porch, that’s why I came in here. From what I heard, Reggie’s getting the shit kicked out of him, and the lecture of his life.”

Jughead smiled. “Good.”

Taking a sip of his coffee, Jughead shot a cocky look at Toni. “How’s Cheryl?”

Toni raised an eyebrow, hopping onto the counter. 

Jughead let out a short laugh. “You haven’t been subtle about it.”

Toni shrugged. “It’s nice to finally be with an experienced woman.”

Jughead smiled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, Southside women are shit. They have no clue what they’re doing, they’re all beginners. Not to mention, the men are done in about five seconds.”

“Good to know you got a nice lay Toni.”

“I’d share her, but I think she’s a lesbian, and you seem to like the taste of blonde better.”

Jughead gave Toni a confused look. “The hell’s that supposed to mean.”

Toni scoffed. “You clearly folded to let her win.”

Jughead took another sip. “So?”

Toni rolled her eyes. “You literally have not left her alone for more than thirty minutes since you got her here. You keep checking on her.”

“Wai-“

“No!” Toni laughed. “You about had a meltdown when you got her, and I literally caught you cuddling her.”

“Hey! I was told to, so she would warm up!”

“But did you enjoy it?” Toni inquired.

“Shut up.”

“Exactly.”

Toni straightend up. “Speaking of her, do you think she’s been abused or something?”

“What makes you say that?” Jughead asked steadily, already knowing the answer to Toni’s question.

“She seems,” Toni started slowly. “Shy. Like she’s terrified someone’s just gonna lose their shit and beat her up.”

“I wouldn’t blame her for thinking that after this morning,” Jughead suggested.

Toni shoot him a look that showed she wasn’t joking anymore.

“Yeah,” Jughead admitted. “She said her mom liked to scream and hit her.”

“Jesus,” Toni huffed. “No wonder she looks so anxious.”

Jughead bit his lip, before a thought crossed his mind. “I don’t know if I wanna let her go back.”

“You’d ask her to be a Serpent?” Toni stared at him like he was crazy. 

“I don’t know,” he said. “But Reggie’s an easy fix, based on what you said. But her mom isn’t. The thought of just letting someone go back to that without at least trying to intervene makes me sick.”

Toni hopped down from the counter. “If you want to, go for it. She might not even say yes though, and if she does, what’s FP gonna think?”

“We need new members,” Jughead added.

“We’re also at risk of some of us starving to death. Another mouth to feed isn’t going to sit well with FP.”

“He’ll have to deal with it.”

Toni patted him on the shoulder as she ambled out. “Your funeral Jones.”

Jughead took a final sip of his coffee. It was his funeral. But if dying was what it took to make sure Betty wasn’t getting beaten anymore, then they could go ahead and start digging his grave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! look at me, getting a chapter up within seven days! i’m proud. anyways, hope you enjoyed. fingers crossed i have another chapter up next week, but don’t get your hopes up too high. also, if you wanna follow me on twitter or ask me questions, i’m @stolemyreinhart. feel free to say hi! love y’all, peace out!


	7. Barriers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! i’m very sorry this chapter is late, but i’ve been busy and i’ve had to rewrite a lot of this because i honestly still don’t like this chapter very much. anyways, enjoy!
> 
> tw:// sexual assault, assault, mentions of abuse, mentions of rape, mentions of death.

For three days, the house stayed mostly silent. 

Betty had refused to come downstairs and come into any contact with Reggie, and when she did she could feel Jughead’s eyes burning into them, waiting for something to happen. 

Kevin and Veronica visited a few times a day, Kevin coming to talk and Veronica bringing food and assesing injuries. For the most part, Betty could limp at a decent speed, so they’d more than likely be on the move once the storm cleared up.

The only joy Betty managed to find was that whenever it cleared up for a few hours, Jughead and Sweet Pea seemed to bolt outside to smoke, much to Toni and Fangs’ disapproval. Both of them had laughed their asses off when Sweet Pea ended up soaked, and Betty caught herself giggling.

Still, as Betty picked at the plate in front of her, her legs resting comfortably on top of the messy, unmade bed, it was hard to be any form of emotion.

It was dark outside, still pouring, and the thunder made the cabin shake. Betty could feel herself clenching her palm, her other hand still wrapped. 

Betty could only presume it was around maybe twelve, and she felt her eyes droop. Feeling the unwelcome tightness in her chest, Betty refused to sleep, knowing that the thunder and anxiety would bring a horrific set of nightmares. 

Flinching again, Betty shoved her plate over onto the nightstand and buried her face in her knees, her scrawny arms wrapped around them like a vice.

Hearing a soft knock on the door, Betty sniffled and wiped her eyes. “Come in.”

Jughead slipped in from the dark hallway, his hair wet from the cold bath they all had taken at some point, his pajamas looking comfy and warm.

Due to the lack of rooms, Veronica had forced two people to share. Toni and Cheryl took one without hesitation or shame, practically throwing it in everybody’s faces what was happening behind the closed doors.

Kevin had offered to stay with Betty, but she had politely declined. Knowing her friend’s sleeping habits, he needed the lights out by eight, and he’d be up at four thirty. Betty wasn’t going to be asleep by then, and she’d be miserably unable to go back to sleep once he woke her.

Leaving Jughead as the only option. Betty didn’t mind, considering it was him, Sweet Pea, Fangs, or Reggie. 

Unlike Cheryl and Toni, Betty couldn’t just share a bed with Jughead. Veronica kindly offered her a matress, claiming the couch was just fine. Something about her amount of beauty products made Betty think she was lying, but it was a generous offer nonetheless.

“Hey,” he said. 

“Hey.”

“How’s your ankle feeling?”

“Fine,” Betty shrugged. “Veronica said I’ll be fine to walk when the storm clears.”

“That’s good,” he spoke.

“Yeah,” she mumbled. Inhaling, she picked at her nails. “How was your bath?”

Jughead chuckled. “Cold. But, y’know, I could smell like smoke.”

Betty pursed her lips. “Mhm.”

Yawning, Betty stretched and could feel her eyelids weighing down on her. God, she was exhausted.

“I’ll get the candle,” he offered, but Betty, with another yawn, waved him away.

“No, I’m fine,” she lied.

“You look ready to pass out,” he pointed out.

“Seriously, I’m fine,” she continued.

Jughead walked over to the side of the bed, plopping down on it and looking at her. “Thunder bothering you?”

“A little,” Betty confessed. “But I’ll be fine.”

The house suddenly started to shake, and the rain was slamming loudly into the window, the wind howling outside loud enough to wake those who were still dead. Betty felt a lump in her throat, and instinctively let out a whimper.

She jumped when she felt the hand on her back, and turned to see Jughead had moved over.

“It’s just,” she fought to not cry. “Every time I hear a loud noise, I think of what happened before Northside.”

Jughead rubbed circles on her back, his words softly spoken like usual. “What happened before Northside?”

Betty took a shaky breath before a tear rolled down her cheek.

“I used to live in Riverdale,” she explained. “My mom was nice, my brother wasn’t around until near the end, my dad and my sister-“ she stopped, to exhale and put a hand over her heart.

Jughead reached forward, placing his free hand over hers. “Hey. It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Betty shook her head, sniffling. “Everything just fell apart. We had to leave, my sister was pregnant.”

“It was just chaos once we got to New York. There were walkers everywhere, buildings just constantly got bombed. You either got out, got eaten, or got bombed.”

Jughead scooted closer to her, his arm now around her waist and she could barely feel his breath on her ear. 

“What happened to your dad and your sister?” he murmured.

Betty covered her mouth with her hand, before moving it away.

“We were trying to leave,” she sobbed. “There were bombs everywhere. My sister had gone into labor, when this building just blew up and fell. She tried to run but-“ Betty gasped. “But she got crushed. We just had to run.”

“We were on out way out when this herd came out of nowhere. We just had to run. He was behind me, even though he could’ve left me. I was holding his hand when they grabbed him.”

Betty was sobbing, Jughead whispering kind words to her and rubbing up and down her side.

“I had to let him go,” she bawled. “I had to run while he was screaming my name and getting eaten. I didn’t even look back, I just ran.”

Jughead pulled Betty into his side, her fingers clutching his shirt as she cried into his chest.

“It’s all my fault,” Betty wailed into his chest.

“Shhh,” Jughead soothed. “He chose to be behind you to protect you. There’s nothing you could’ve done to save him or your sister.”

“It should’ve been me,” she cried.

Jughead pulled her up farther, so he could wrap his hands around her waist and let her cry into his neck. He felt nothing but bone and scars and the thought sent a pain of agony to his heart.

His time before the Serpents had been rough, but the only person he had lost was his mom. Not to mention they fought constantly, and he willingly was the one to put her down. Sure, there were tough times, but he had family. His sister, even FP cared about him.

By the sounds of it, nobody cared about Betty. Her mother hit her, her brother wasn’t mentioned enough to be an important part of her life. It made his blood boil. It was no wonder she was so timid and sickly. She hated herself, and barely had anybody tell her that she shouldn’t. It wouldn’t surprise him if she wasn’t being fed properly.

And then, the words just slipped out.

“I’m not letting you go back.”

Betty was still crying, but not as aggressively as before, and managed the willpower to look at him.

“What?”

“I’m not letting you go back,” he repeated with more confidence.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you really wanna go back? To that?”

Betty was struggling to say something back when he spoke again.

“Look, I get it,” he said. “Your friends. But is it worth it? Only that to be hit by your mom and Reggie?”

It was quiet before Betty whispered, “I’ll think about it.”

Jughead nodded, letting her slip off of him. 

“Y’know,” he spoke. “It was really brave of you to tell me that. I know it can’t be easy.”

Betty fidgeted, staring at her legs. “Thanks.”

Patting her thigh, he muttered “goodnight” and turned to hop off the bed when he felt her hand on his, her eyes wide and pleading.

“Please,” she asked. “Stay.”

Jughead stared at her, before nodding. “Okay. Let me get the candles.”

He slid off the bed, ambling around to blow out the candles, leaving the room in utter darkness, before locking the door. Trying to not trip, he stumbled through the darkenss before he got to the side of the bed he had been on.

Letting out a breath, he sat down, before crawling under the covers. They were warm and plush, just as they had been the night they had first arrived. Remembering her warm body against hers, he squirmed, knowing she was right next to him.

Without warning in the dark, he felt her drape her arm across his stomach, and he inhaled. His heartbeat was racing, and he felt his stomach clench.

Despite the darkness, he could make out her face. He nearly choked when he realized she was staring at him, their faces inches away.

He took in steady breaths. Jughead Jones wasn’t a flustered person. He was calm and meticulous. He had everything planned. Except this.

“Hey,” she whispered. “Thank you Juggie.”

Something in his heart when boom when the nickname rolled off her tongue. 

And something in his brain turned off as he leaned forward and planted his lips on her forehead.

❦

Jughead pinched the bridge of his nose as he took a drag on his cigarette. The rain had momentarily cleared, and Sweet Pea was still asleep, which left him to smoke on his own.

As he sat on the stairs of Veronica’s porch, he relived the memory of last night. Over and over again.

For some reason that only God knew, he had cuddled with her and treated her like she was his girlfriend. Something in him just lost control and he went for it. 

He exhaled smoke as he remembered the feeling when he pressed his lips on her forehead. She had been entirely still, her skin soft and warm. He nearly punched himself.

“Way to go Jones,” he muttered angrily. “Fall for a girl who clearly is not in the right mindset to even be out here. What the fuck could possibly go wrong?”

“Erm, everything?”

Jughead jumped as he heard the voice, and he spun around to see Kevin staring down at him, a smirk on his face.

Jughead turned his head back angrily before taking a drag. “I’m going to put a fucking bell on all of you.”

Kevin snorted. “Apparently, I’m putting a muzzle on you.”

Jughead groaned, burying his face in his palms, keeping his cigarette away from his forehead.

“So,” Kevin spoke. “Apparently you all have a thing for Northsiders.”

“Please stop,” Jughead mumbled.

“I will once your people stop fucking mine.”

“I did not sleep with her!” Jughead snapped as Kevin took a seat next to him.

“But you like her her,” Kevin noted. “You shouldn’t fall for people in the wrong mindsets.”

Jughead dropped his cigarette and stomped on it. “Don’t make me do something I’ll regret, I actually like you.”

“Seems you like-“

Jughead shot him a death glare, and Kevin stopped himself. 

“I didn’t mean to do it,” Jughead explained. “Something in me just-“

“Quit? That was Archie’s bullshit explanation to Betty when he kissed me for the first time. Poor boy thought he was as straight as a line.”

“I didn’t know you had a boyfriend,” Jughead said.

“Why? You interested?”

“Shut up.”

Kevin chuckled. “I get it. She’s pretty. She’s sweet.”

Jughead shook his head. “I’ve known her for a total of maybe five days.”

“The heart wants what it wants,” Kevin offered.

“What if my brain doesn’t want what my heart wants?”

Kevin laughed as he hauled himself up. 

“Then honey you are fucked.”

❦

When Betty finally woke up, he wasn’t there. Where he had slept had been cold, the only trace of him being there was the faintest smell of cologne and cigarettes that his bath had managed to not get rid of. She had smiled, nestling further into her pillow at the smell, before it had all come crashing back.

Now, she sat in the kitchen, having managed to limp her way down the stairs. Most everybody seemed to be asleep. She could see the faint trail of smoke from outside, and she felt her heart skip a beat before she slipped into the empty kitchen.

Seeing already made coffee, Betty managed to strain herself to reach up for a mug and pour some for herself.

As she took a sip, she tried to process the night before. Jughead Jones had fucking cuddled with her.

The thought sounded strange, especially based on Sierra’s low opinions of him from when leaders would meet. She remembered when Sierra had come back last winter, saying the Serpents needed food and how they had been agressive and threatening. Jughead hardly seemed like the type.

Betty took a sip, hopping onto the counter before feeling her heart stop as she watched Reggie walk in, clearly unhappy and almost angry.

Betty said nothing as he came over, pouring himself a cup of coffee, taking a long look at her.

“How’s your leg?” he asked gruffly.

“Fine,” Betty spoke slowly. “I’m gonna go sit outside-“

“Just wait a damn second,” Betty flinched as he grabbed her arm.

“I’m sorry. I really am. But you can’t tell me you don’t wanna get out of here as much as I do,” he said.

“The Serpents seem nice-“

“Bullshit!” Betty jumped as he nearly shouted, his grip getting tighter.

“They’re just playing us so they can stab us in the back,” he spat.

“Doesn’t seem like it,” Betty replied tentatively.

“Yeah, well you didn’t think you were being a bitch before,” Reggie snapped.

“Let go of me,” Betty demanded.

“No, you need to get something straight-“

“I said, let go of me!”

Betty slammed her fists against Reggie’s chest, fighting as he grabbed her thighs.

“Y’know,” he breathed down her neck. “Josie always fought with me. I always fucked her into listening. Seems you need the same treatment.”

Betty tried to let out a scream before her mouth was covered, Reggie yanking down her shorts.

Kicking and fighting, Betty felt hot tears stream down her face as he slid his hands up her shirt, and she finally screamed as they reached her chest.

Within seconds, however, his weight was gone and her shirt had lowered itself. Betty fell off the counter, knocking over the mug as she slipped to the floor, wailing.

Kevin had yanked Reggie off of her, and had slammed him into the floor facefirst.

“You think it’s cute to try and rape women?” Kevin shouted. “I’ll give you something real fucking funny you piece of shit!”

Reggie shouted as he tried to block his face as Kevin flipped him over and threw punch after punch. Betty could see the blood glistening as Kevin just completely whaled on him. 

Veronica let out a shriek when she walked in to see the chaos, followed by Fangs and Sweet Pea. Sweet Pea and Fangs scrambled over to Kevin, yanking Kevin off as he hollered and kicked to break free.

Veronica had rushed over to a frightened Betty, wrapping her arms around the blonde. Betty breathed heavily, a few tears running down her cheeks.

For some reason, she wasn’t breaking down like she normally did. Her hands and legs trembled and she felt repulsed, but something about this was different. She felt something different burn through her. 

Rage.

Betty swallowed, breaking free from Veronica to step slowly over to a bloody and beaten Reggie. She could barely see his face through all the blood, and she stared down at him in disgust. 

Clenching her teeth, she grabbed his shirt and slammed him back down on the ground, immediately taking the position Kevin had been in, hurtling her fists into his face.

She felt more tears slide down her face as she continued to beat on him, but she continued anyways. She let out a scream as she felt hands on her shoulders pulling her away, and she kicked at Reggie as she tried to fight her way out of their grip.

“No!” she screamed. “It’s not fair!”

She felt her body shake as if a wave of sadness had just pummeled her. She sobbed, feeling herself melt into someone’s muscled chest.

She felt his fingers in her hair as she inhaled the thick smoky scent on his body. 

“I got you,” Jughead whispered, his arms tucked around her waist.

“I got you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, nothing really really huge happened this chapter. i managed to make reggie even a bigger dick, and now the feelings are sort of out there for jughead. to be honest, it’s just a lil more filler before y’all get thrown into some other stuff. it’s also a goodbye for now for some characters, since in the new couple of chapters, i won’t get to write about them anymore :(  
> but i hope you guys enjoyed it, cause shits truly about to go down.


	8. Never Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw:// mentions of sexual assault, mentions of abuse, major character death.
> 
> hi! sorry for the short chapter, but it’s better than no chapter at all. i should be updating more frequently now that my volleyball season is finally over, and i only have camp left. school is almost out as well (two weeks baby lets go), so i should be able to get either faster chapters or longer chapters, or maybe both. seriously, i have no life during summer. also, my birthday is tuesday, so yay me! lastly, it’s a bit out of left field, but thank y’all for the support. even though there are only maybe forty of you who are really excited for this fic, it still means a lot. shoutout to yasmin, homegirl is my number one fan, i love her, probably would’ve not still be writing this fic without her love and support. 
> 
> love you guys! hope you enjoy!

Betty was acutely aware of everyone around her as she sat curled up on the couch, a blanket draped around her and her hands clasped around a hot cup of tea Veronica had poured her.

Kevin had managed to find a zip tie, and had tied Reggie up on the staircase, his face completely beaten in. She could barely tell it was him, as he laid there, knocked out cold.

The noise had woken everyone else up in the house, who had come sprinting down expecting walkers. Jughead had managed to find his way in from smoking, and was now sitting next to her on the couch. He sat almost a little too upright and a safe distance from her.

Kevin, who had still yet to calm down, was pacing the room, his hands clenched. 

“Kevin, it’s okay,” Betty spoke softly.

“No, it’s not!” Kevin snapped, making Betty slump down.

“You need to calm down,” Cheryl said, her arm snaked around Toni’s waist. “You already beat the shit out of him, there’s nothing more we can do until we can get back and let Tom and Sierra punish him.”

“And just let him prance along the rest of the way with Betty right by?”

“I’m right here,” Betty spit.

Betty didn’t consider herself a confident person in the least, but she could let herself be that way around Kevin. He wasn’t going to hurt her in anyway, and she wasn’t going to let him push her around.

“Look, Kev,” Betty explained, exasperated. “There’s nothing else to do. We can leave him tied up and drive him back, and then we let it get handled.”

“Handled?” Kevin laughed. “He’s my dad’s fucking lap dog, he’ll buy whatever bullshit story he cooks up, considering he doesn’t seem to get along with you.”

“Sierra’s in charge of people and politics”, Cheryl pointed out. “Tom runs what those people do. Josie’ll happily testify against Reggie, and Sierra will punish him.”

Kevin shook his head. “Not for long. He’ll be deemed too valuable by my dad and Sierra’s gonna have to let him off easy. The most he’ll recieve is a long lecture and a few days locked up. We’d just be leaving him pissed off and out for blood.”

“So, what, are you suggesting we kill him?” Betty recoiled. “We have no options here.”

Jughead folded his arms as he stood up. “They’ll find some way to blame us, even if you guys pull the trigger. Northside has enough ammunition against us already.”

“We’re fucked,” Kevin sighed, plopping down in a chair and burying his face in his hands. “He’ll be out in a few days, if that, and he’ll just wanna hurt Betty.”

Betty bit her lip, feeling a lump in her throat as a thought crossed her mind.

“So I leave,” she declared.

Kevin’s head snapped back up, and everyone’s eyes were on her now, which made her fidget in her seat. 

“We can’t kill him and he’ll want to hurt me,” she explained. “If I left, he couldn’t do that.”

“Leave?” Cheryl scoffed. “And go where?”

“She could stay with the Serpents,” Jughead offered.

Fangs shook his head from his spot on the floor. “She’s not exactly Serpent material.”

Sweet Pea nodded as he leaned over Reggie, keeping an eye on him. “Tall Boy would eat her alive, he already has a bone to pick with you.”

“What if I just stay until I know how long Reggie’s gonna be punished?” Betty suggested. 

“What do you mean?” Jughead asked.

“Like, I stay there for a few days while Sierra figures out a punishment for him. If she’s fair, he’ll be stuck for awhile, and I’ll go back.”

“What if he’s only locked up for a few days?” Toni responded. “What do you do then?”

“We can cross that bridge when we get to it,” Jughead stated. “But the idea sounds good to me. Kevin?”

Kevin nodded. “Works with me.”

“Fantastic,” Cheryl mumbled. “Now which one of you fuckers wants to try me at Monopoly?”

❦

Jughead could feel his eyes droop as he pulled his shirt over his head, tucking it into his jeans. The weight of his gun and knife felt unfamiliar after the many days he had spent in the cabin. 

Thankfully, the storm had finally managed to die, leaving bright blue skies. It was still freezing, but at least it wasn't raining.

More than likely, the warehouse both groups had come to scavenge was completely destroyed by the storm, but Jughead and Kevin both agreed it was worth checking out. Neither of the groups seemed eager to leave, and Veronica seemed a little disappointed when Jughead told her. Still, it'd be nice to be back with the Serpents once it was all said and done. Jughead wasn't sure how much longer he could look at Reggie and force himself not to shoot him. 

For the most part, Betty seemed to be more adventurous, talking a bit more to Fangs and Toni, and even Sweet Pea. She still had her occasional shy moment and she still seemed jumpy, but she seemed more comfortable. Jughead assumed it was that she had nothing to fear from Reggie anymore. For the most part, it made Jughead happy seeing her in her element. 

Shoving his combat boots on, Jughead walked out of the room and headed downstairs, where everyone seemed to be getting ready. Sweet Pea and Kevin seemed to be making sure Reggie's restraints were tight, and Cheryl and Toni seemed to be joking around as they ate breakfast. Betty was listening to Veronica, asking the occasional question. 

Jughead made his way over to Kevin and Sweet Pea, staring down at the barely recognizable brute they were restraining. 

"Need some help?" Jughead offered, watching Reggie fidget and grunt.

"The last thing I want is more Serpent scum touching me," Reggie spat, letting out a sharp cry as Sweet Pea yanked on the zip tie.

"Oops," Sweet Pea smirked.

Jughead snorted, giving a tiny kick at Reggie. "Big bad wolf finally got animal control called on him."

"Fuck you," Reggie snarled.

Jughead crouched down to Reggie's level. "I can see why you harass girls. They'd ignore you if you weren't such a little bitch."

Reggie lunged forward, only for Sweet Pea and Kevin hold him back by the zip tie. Jughead chuckled, standing up to his normal height.

"I wish I could drag him back to FP," Sweet Pea commented, hauling Reggie to his feet. "Poor boy wouldn't last."

"My lips are sealed," Kevin joked. "But I gotta take him back. Like you said, Sierra doesn't like you guys to begin with. She'd find out what happened one way or the other."

"I'm right here," Reggie growled. 

"I wish you weren't," Kevin muttered.

Jughead smirked. "Your people ready to go?"

"Yeah," Kevin said, letting Sweet Pea hold on to Reggie. 

"And you're still cool with us taking Betty back to the Serpents for a few days?" Jughead asked.

Kevin nodded. "Whatever's safest for her."

Jughead gave him a pat on the shoulder as Sweet Pea slipped away over to Cheryl and Toni with Reggie in tow. "You're a good friend, you know that?" 

Kevin nodded, a small smile on his face. "I do my best."

Smiling, Jughead brushed past Kevin and ambled over to Betty, who murmured a goodbye to Veronica. She raised her eyebrows as he walked over, and gave a tiny wave.

"Hi," she said.

"Hey," he spoke. "What'd Veronica want?"

"Telling me what to do if I open my wound," Betty told him, extending her palm.

Jughead winced, looking at the long mark across her palm. "Ouch."

Betty giggled. "Yeah."

Jughead bit his lip as he looked at her, jamming his fists in his pockets. "You sure you're up for a few days with the Serpents?"

Betty nodded. "It can't be worse than Northside."

Jughead took her extended hand and closed it with his. He brushed his thumb across her knuckles, and gave her a gentle smile. "I'll make sure nobody gives you any trouble."

"Thank you," Betty whispered.

Jughead stepped closer to her, nodding and looking down at her. "No problem."

❦

The air was still and fresh as the group wandered through the woods, the soaked soil beneath them soft and offering silence. 

Betty bit her lip as she limped across the ground, her ankle still a tad bit sore. Her hand was planted on her gun, despite the fact that her safety was still on.

Kevin had taken the lead while Jughead had stuck to the rear, with everyone else spread out in the middle. Reggie seemed to be walking fine, but always complaining as Sweet Pea dragged him along.

“How much longer?” Jughead called from the back.

“Shouldn’t be long now,” Kevin yelled back.

Betty licked her lips, remembering Jughead’s words earlier. Not to mention his hands on hers. They were rough from years of this world, but at the same time there was a warmth and gentleness to them that made Betty shiver whenever she thought about it.

Betty shook her head. Not an appropriate time to be thinking that.

“Wait,” Cheryl spoke, halting. 

Kevin turned around. “What?”

“You hear that?”

Almost on cue, two people appeared in front of the group. Betty felt Jughead brush past her to stand by Kevin, and the rest of the group seemed to curiously inch closer as well.

A wavy hair blonde woman who looked in her thirties stood next to a tall, curly dark haired man who wore all black.

“See,” the woman smiled coldly. “I told you I heard people Malachi.”

Malachi stared at the group of Northsiders and Serpents, a bitterly evil look in his eye that made Betty’s blood run cold. These weren’t good people.

“Who are you?” Jughead demanded.

“Name’s Penny, sweetheart,” the woman snarled. “You got one?”

“Jughead,” he said slowly. “This is Kevin.”

“Ah,” Penny seemed to come to a realization. “Serpent Prince. And some of these are Northsiders, no? They look too uptight to be Serpents.”

“I’m in charge of the Northsiders here,” Kevin told her.

“Are you?” Penny laughed. 

Betty crept near the front, before Cheryl extended and arm and held her back. Betty swallowed, reaching down to click the safety off her gun.

Betty caught Penny’s eye, and the older woman drew her gun on the younger blonde. Almost as if they had been drawn all along, Jughead and Kevin had their guns aimed at Penny’s head.

“Drop it,” Kevin spat.

“She made the first move,” Penny spoke, almost too calm. “Besides, we outnumber you. Boys?”

Betty felt her handles tremble and her knees felt weak as at least eight people crept out of the shadows.

“Now drop it,” Penny cooed, and Betty felt her chest tighten as she watched Jughead and Kevin begrudingly lower their guns.

Shakily, Betty raised both of her hands.

“Look,” Jughead said, his hands now raised along with the rest of the group. “We don’t want any trouble.”

“Then why are you heading for my warehouse?” Penny asked.

“We didn’t know someone already claimed it,” Kevin jumped in. “We’ll turn around and be on our way now.”

“Not so fast pretty boy,” Malachi smirked. “You got anything on you?”

Kevin shook his head. “We were heading for supplies.”

“Well I’d like something for our troubles,” Malachi explained.

“We don’t have anything to give you,” Kevin spat.

Penny scoffed. “Well then, honey. Guess I’ll take something a little different than supplies from you.”

Betty hadn’t realized she had been holding her breath when she heard what Penny said.

She hadn’t realized the scream was hers until she saw the bullet fire into Kevin’s chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m so sorry.


	9. Oh, Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw:// major character death, graphic gun and knife violence, self-harm.

Jughead felt his body numb as he stared in terror at what lay in front of him. He had felt his lips part and a strangled sound slipped out as he watched the brunette choke and struggle in front of him, his blood oozing out onto the forest floor. It was crimson and it gushed out of Kevin's chest, his hands dripping red as the suffocating man tried to cover his wound. 

Jughead felt fire burn through his veins as he heard Penny's cackle before it was drowned out by a scream. Jughead reached for his gun before he heard shots fired around him, screams from the Serpents and the remaining Northsiders filling the air as they yanked out their guns, firing on the unfamiliar faces that had trapped them. Penny and Malachi bolted into the trees as Jughead started to aim, before he let out a shout as he felt a foot collide with the back of his leg. 

His knees slammed into the ground, Jughead flipped over before being met with a gun in his face. Thinking fast, he yanked, trying to aim it in a different direction. He winced as a ringing filled his ears, he had managed to pull hard enough for the man to no longer have his gun on him. Jughead snatched his knife out of his belt, slamming it into the stranger's neck. Tugging it out, blood squirted onto Jughead's shirt. Shoving the bloody knife back into his belt, Jughead hauled himself to his feet and pulled his gun out, cocking it.

Cheryl screamed as Jughead watched her get tackled, and he fired on the man on top of her. She grunted and kicked him off, giving a grateful nod at Jughead.

Jughead stared at the multiple bodies on the ground, breathless as he tried to see if any of them were familiar. 

"Where the hell did everyone go?" he demanded.

"I think most of them ran, they got followed."

Jughead turned his head to look where Kevin had been, only to see a bloody puddle. "They took him."

"He won't make it a minute," Cheryl muttered through gritted teeth. "They took him to torture him before he dies."

"I'll follow them," Jughead told her, before turning around to follow and feeling a harsh tug on his arm.

"He's dead," Cheryl spoke gravely. "You're just getting yourself killed as well. Besides, we need to find the rest of the group and get the hell out of here before they send more people to see if we'rd dead."

Jughead opened his mouth to protest, being cut off by Cheryl.

"No. You're helping me. We need to find Betty first, she's the easiest one for them to get."

"I'll find Betty and Sweet Pea," Jughead spoke. "You get Fangs and Toni."

"What about Reggie?"

"Asshole can fend for himself, I'm not taking him with us."

Not waiting for her to reply, Jughead dashed into the trees, his heart pounding. 

❦

Jughead could feel his chest burn and his lungs scream for air as he bolted through the woods, trying to see if he could see anybody.

Minutes passed as he ran, stopped for breath and to look around, before continuing to run. Penny had to have sent reinforcements, and Jughead preferred not to wait and see if they followed and caught up to him.

Jughead felt his heart race even faster at the thought of one of them catching up with Betty. She was scrawny, short, and he hadn’t once seen her fire her gun. It’d take seconds for her to be dead. 

Surprisingly, Sweet Pea was a small concern for Jughead at the moment. He felt bad thinking it, but it was true. Sweet Pea was the opposite of Betty. Tall, stocky, and intimidating. He could easily take on at least two of the men they had run into, and he’d probably come off with a couple scratches.

Jughead stopped thinking when he heard a branch snap, and spun around on his heel, gun loaded, to see Sweet Pea staring him down.

“Jesus,” Jughead exhaled, lowering his gun.

Sweet Pea sighed, doing the same and shaking his head. “Fuck. Who else is alive?”

“Cheryl’s the only one I know about, everybody else scattered. She went after Toni and Fangs, I came for you and Betty. You seen her?”

Sweet Pea shook his head. “I’ll help you look.”

“No,” Jughead ordered. “Head back towards the trucks, leave one of ours for me and Betty. I’ll meet up with you guys two miles from here, on the way to the Serpent Camp. Got it?”

Sweet Pea nodded before taking off, quickly disappearing into the leafless, bare trees. 

Jughead ran a hand through his hair as he turned around to keep looking, his gun loaded and ready to shoot anybody who crossed his path.

❦

Breathing was the only thought that could cross Betty’s mind. 

She had to breathe. Just had to breathe.

Her exposed hand was drenched with blood where she had dug in completely, and half off it had been wiped on her face she tried to absentmindly wipe her tears.

Kevin was dead. Her best friend was dead. Murdered in cold blood. Shot in the chest to choke and bleed out and turn.

She couldn’t shove Penny’s face out of her head. Her cackle and smug grin, knowing happily she had just murdered somebody.

Betty slumped further against the tree she had been leaning on, hitting the ground. She could feel blood oozing from her hand, and she dropped her head back.

This was fine.

This was an okay place to die.

Quiet. Peaceful. Nobody to burden. Just a serene silence as red soaked the ground next to her. 

As the tall figure in the distance approached her, Betty let her eyelids fall. She just hoped he’d make it quick. A swift bullet to the head so it’d be done. So she could see Polly and her dad.

But life isn’t that simple.

“Betty!”

Betty blinked her eyes open as she felt the rough, warm hand cup her cheek. The dark hair came into view, and his hazel eyes beamed with every painful emotion possible. 

“Hey,” he spoke quickly.

“Jug,” she whispered, her eyes suddenly filling with tears.

“Hi,” he gave a weak smile before his eyes flickered to her hand. “Jesus christ.”

“It’s okay,” she mumbled. “I don’t mind dying here.”

Jughead’s eyes widened as he looked back, putting his hand on her other cheek, cupping her face completely as he stayed crouched in front of her.

“I swear to God Betty I’m not letting you die, not here, not now,” Jughead vowed.

Slipping off his Serpent jacket, he ripped the sleeve on his flannel, wrapping it around Betty’s hand. 

“We need to go,” Jughead spoke urgently, grabbing Betty by the arm and trying to pull her up.

“I can’t leave him,” Betty begged, seeming to return to reality for the moment at least. “I can’t.”

“I don’t have a choice,” Jughead said with finality, tugging the blonde to her feet. “We need to go.”

Betty swallowed the lump in her throat and blindly followed Jughead, clutching to his arm as he started to walk. She clung to him like a lost puppy. 

Betty could feel the blood loss hitting her as she felt the world spin as she started to run to keep up with Jughead’s pace. The flannel was already starting to soak and her legs screamed for her to stop, but she couldn’t.

For once in her god damned life, she had to fight. She didn’t have Kevin to baby her if she broke. Jughead was there, sure, but he wasn’t going to drop everything to coddle her. He’d pick her up and keep running. 

It was fight or die. And she could hear Kevin’s voice in her head, his sweet laugh that sounded like honey for your ears. He didn’t die so she could collapse and follow suit ten minutes later.

Betty could feel her chest closing up as she struggled to breathe, her stomach doing flips. Her legs were operating on muscle memory, they felt numb enough for her to collapse.

Betty closed her eyes for a moment. This wasn’t a fight she could lose.

❦

Jughead could barely feel his legs when he finally saw the street, the lower half of his body raw. He considered himself decently fit, so he could imagine the pain Betty was in. He was surprised to find her as calm as she was, and he could barely believe she had kept up with him.

He stumbled and dropped his head to his knees when they finally reached the pavement, afraid he was going to puke. 

“Fuck,” he muttered as he shakily stood up. He hadn’t realized Betty had let go of him until he felt her hand brush off his back.

Silently, he stared at her. Her demeanor was calm and focused, something that seemed insanely off considering the situation. Then it clicked that she was in shock. The breakdown hadn’t hit her yet, and Jughead knew that the longer she supressed it, the worse it would be. 

“C’mon,” he mumbled, still unsure of whether or not he needed to puke. 

Walking over to the truck Sweet Pea had left for them, Jughead noted that the other two were gone. Good. They had made it out.

Jughead climbed into the driver’s side, sighing as he plopped down into the old leather. Almost everybody, including him, would bitch about how uncomfortable it was, but it felt like something God himself would sit on at the moment. 

He heard Betty grunt and haul herself into the other side as he reached above him to pull the sun visor down for a quick moment, the keys dropping into his lap.

Jughead glanced over at Betty as he inserted the keys into ignition, watching her hold her bloody hand in her other bandaged palm.

“Need to change it?” he asked, grabbing the clutch.

Betty shook her head. “I think there’s medical supplies in our truck. I’ll just wait.”

Jughead stared at her for a moment, wanting to say something. God, anything would do. But nothing came out. He just stared at her sympathetically before looking back at the road and starting to drive.

Jughead finally felt the reality of what had happened sink in as the truck started to move and they were on their way.

Kevin was dead.

There wasn’t really a light way to put it. Jughead had barely known him, and yet it felt like he had known him for years. He couldn’t imagine what Betty was going through, considering she did know him for that long.

Kevin was basically a life jacket to her. He kept her above water and heading towards shore, even if she was a million miles from land. He briefly considered why Kevin had been so kind to her in the first place, before he felt his stomach stir as he remembered what she looked like at first glance. That was her living in a community and he wanted to just tuck her away from the rest of the world. The thought of what she must have been like before she got to Northside scared Jughead to the point where he had to shove it to the back of his mind.

Taking a deep breath, he watched Betty from the corner of his eye, seeing her fidget in the uncomfortable leather.

And for the first time in a couple hours, he relaxed. She was safe.

And at the moment, that was all that mattered.

❦

By the time they had spent only five minutes on the road, Jughead could see trucks parked in the distance. He felt himself panic and he moved his hand to his holster, only to let himself relax when he saw Sweet Pea.

Betty had spaced out at that point, picking at her jagged nails, and Jughead nudged her with his elbow.

She looked up with concern. “What’s happening?”

“Relax,” Jughead soothed. “It’s just the rest of the group.”

“Including Reggie?” Betty swallowed as she asked her question and Jughead felt his fingers tighten around the wheel.

“No,” Jughead spoke. “I told Cheryl to find Toni and Fangs and not worry about him. He’s still back there.”

“Good.” 

Jughead didn’t miss the hollow crack in her voice, but he could feel her shoulders slump, almost in disappointment.

“You okay?” he asked. “Figured you’d be happy about it.”

“No, I am,” Betty said mildly. “Just means I go back to Northside.”

Jughead felt his stomach drop. Shit. Reggie was the only reason she was coming. Without him, he had no explanation to Northside why he had one of their members. Which meant she went back.

Without saying anything else, Jughead parked the truck as they finally reached the rest of the group. He didn’t hesitate to open the door and hop out, taking a moment to breathe while nobody was looking.

Jughead was taken aback when Toni ran up to him and gave him a hug, his arms not moving to return it. Before he even could, she backed away.

“I’m so glad you guys are okay,” she sighed.

“Yeah,” Jughead responded, not sure what else to say.

He stood there awkwardly for a moment, the deafening silence not helping matters, before he came back to his senses.

“Shit!” he exclaimed. “Do you guys have any badages?”

Cheryl stepped forward. “I have some. What for?”

“Betty cut her hand.”

Cheryl nodded. “I’ll wrap it up.”

Almost on cue, Betty hopped out of the truck, and Cheryl grabbed her arm to take her to the back of the one they had originally came in.

When they were gone, Jughead pinched the bridge of his nose before he rubbed his face and let his arms drop to his side.

“I need a fucking drink.”

Sweet Pea let out a light chuckle, and Fangs who was seated on the front of a truck smiled.

Toni wrapped her arms around her frame, glowering at the ground. “I can’t imagine what Cheryl and Betty are going through.”

Jughead pulled his cigarettes out from his pocket and his lighter from his jacket, before taking one out and lighting it. He took a long drag on it before he hopped up onto the hood of the truck.

“Speaking of,” Sweet Pea spoke. “How’s Betty? Cheryl seemed pretty upset when she got here, I gotta assume poor blondie broke.”

“Surpisingly calm,” Jughead stated. He shook his head. “I fucking hate it.”

Fangs quirked an eyebrow. “There’s no way she didn’t have a meltdown.”

Jughead shrugged, taking another drag. “Still in shock. She hasn’t fully registered the situation, I guess.”

“That can’t be good,” Toni added.

Jughead shook his head. “It’s not. The longer she bottles it up, the worse it’s gonna be when it explodes. And something tells me she’ll be alone at Northside when it happens.”

“What?” Sweet Pea looked surprised.

“No Reggie, no excuse to stay with the Serpents. At least that’s what she thinks.”

Toni eyes widened. “That’s fucking insane. You’re not seriously gonna let her go back, are you?”

Jughead looked around, exasperated. “I can’t force her to come with us, as much as I’d like to.”

“So, what?” Toni scoffed. “She just goes back to Northside and continues to get beaten, and this time without her friend?”

Jughead felt himself snap as he slammed his hand down on the hood. “Do you not fucking think I considered that?” he shouted. “I don’t have a choice in where she fucking chooses to live.”

“You could at least talk to her about it!” Toni yelled right back. “When did you start fucking rolling over? She’d come if you told her to. You’re just too much of a pussy to be even a little bit stern with her.”

Jughead scoffed, standing up and going over to Toni to point his finger in her face. “You wanna insult me?” he growled. “Fine. But the last time I checked, she’s been through more than most people could survive. She’s hurt. And forcing her to do whatever I say isn’t going to help. So butt. The fuck. Out.”

Toni shook her head, recoiled by Jughead. “Fuck you, Jones.”

Spinning on her heel, she ambled over to where Cheryl and Betty had disappeared to. Jughead could feel his blood boil with rage, and he looked up to see Sweet Pea and Fangs staring.

“You two got any fucking complaints I should know about?” he snapped. 

Both shook their head, looking at the ground. Jughead clenched his jaw, walking back over to where he had been sitting before. 

Jumping up onto the truck, Jughead took a final drag on his cigarette before flicking it into the road. Exhaling as he felt the tension leave, he ran his hands across his face and through his hair.

“Fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh. so, i’m not really gonna go into detail about why i was gone so long. i guess my  
> password wasn’t very secure and i got hacked more or less. i changed it, so nothing too major was done. this was also in like june if i remember right, so i don’t have much of an excuse for the past couple of months except laziness. i’m truly sorry i was gone for so long, but i’m back now, so yay! thank you guys for sticking around for my writing even though i was gone for awhile, and even though it’s sloppy. i’m not really too happy with this chapter even after i rewrote bits of it a few times. it feels very spread out so i promise next chapter i’ll try and keep it focused on one event at a time. love y’all! <3

**Author's Note:**

> and in the end, we were all just humans... drunk on the idea that love, only love, could heal our brokenness.
> 
> \- f. scott fitzgerald


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